Come up with your own damned theory!
You can't build a theory merely by
pointing out deficiencies in another theory.
In another universe, a young patent clerk named
Albert Einstein wrote a paper in which he pointed out that Isaac Newton's theory
of universal gravitation failed to accurately predict the precession of
Mercury's orbit. Several scientists, on reading Einstein's paper, pointed out
that this had been known to be a problem for Newtonian physics for some time.
The scientists asked Einstein if he had any theory that would explain the
discrepancy.
Einstein replied that
there was a discrepancy between Newton's predictions and the
observations.
Yes, yes, the scientists
replied, we're aware of the problem, and we're trying to figure out how to solve
it. In the meantime, have you given any thought to an explanation
yourself?
Well, yes, Einstein said,
patiently and politely. There's a discrepancy between Newton's theory and
observation, which proves that Newton's theory is
incorrect.
Well, at least in this one
respect, replied the scientists. So, again, have you given any thought to an
explanation?
Yes. My theory is that
Newton's theory cannot explain the discrepancy, and therefore my theory is a
better explanation for gravity.
And
that theory might be…? the scientists inquired,
hopefully.
…that Newton's theory
is incorrect.
Posted: Sun - September 11, 2005 at 05:42 PM