----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Z Bandstra" <bandstra@ese.ogi.edu> wrote:
> Do the some of the theories that are produced in the historical sciences
> (such as the theory of evolution) contain unobservable quantities? Does
> the inclusion of an unobservable in a theory preclude it from being a
> scientific theory? And the related question: Are all observables
> theoretical?
The inclusion of an unobserved item forms the basis of a prediction. The
inclusion of an unobservable, may very well make a theory not science. If I
say that invisible, undetectable elves are responsible for manufacturing oil
and gas, that would not be science. If I say that presently unobserved
bacteria are responsible for manufacturing oil and gas, that statement may
or may not be true, depending upon whether such bacteria are eventually
observed. The longer the bugs go unobserved, the fewer people will believe
the hypothesis.
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