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Originally Posted by CraigS
Hmm … I think we need to look carefully at who it is that's drawing conclusions. Good astro-scientists don't often draw conclusions, I find. The media leads us to think that they have, but rarely are the scientists coming to specific conclusions, themselves. As you said previously, good science leads to further questions … rarely conclusions, though.
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Craig,
Maybe, we're giving the word "conclusion" a different connotation.
I think researchers form conclusions all the time. The hypotheses based on the data are in themselves a declaration of what the researcher thinks is happening.
The word "conclusion" here does not imply finality. If I conclude the universe is expanding from the evidence given, it doesn't mean further evidence can't lead to another conclusion.
I think it is possible for data alone to lead to incorrect conclusions or indeed conflicting deductions. Evidence (data) until recently, shows the universe at large to be homogeneous and isotropic.
However new evidence, some of which is based on improvements in measurement, might indicate that the observable universe has a preferred axis or that objects (galaxies) have a preferred flow.
The difference is not solely an interpretation of data but based on a change in the data itself.
There is an assumption by me that a minimal data set exists. It would be a composite of several data subsets obtained from many different fields of study. It would, in theory, be representative enough and accurate enough to give a true impression of the way the universe operates. The hypotheses formed from this data set would have a better chance of begin consistent with each other. At some point in the future, a minimal data set would simply happen. How to recognise we have it is another problem.
Of course, this all depends on how discoverable the universe is. If there is a finite number of discoverable basic constants and behaviours (laws), we might have a chance of grounding the universe theoretically.
If however, the universe is morphing these "constants" over time we may be chasing theoretical shadows.
Just my thoughts,
Rob