Can something exist if science says it does not?

Question

Lunatic: Any time an hypothesis is proved false, that thing is said by science not to exist under those conditions. Thus, many things have been proven not to exist by science.

My reason for asking is that it appears science has become, in and of itself, a belief system. That is ok as long as those who hold this belief know they have voluntarily limited their view on what is real. Science alone does not equal Reality.

Science
+ what has not yet been proven by science
+ what can never be proven using the scientific method
= Reality.

Science is just a tool for understanding the mechanics of ourselves and our physical universe. Nothing more.

Answer 1

Short answer; yes.

Science has been wrong before, something that people seem to forget all the time - if I didn't know better I'd nearly think Science is the new God. No one ever questions it and whatever science says, goes.

There's loads for us to discover, loads more than has been already scientifically proven, and who are we to even think we already know everything there is to know and that anything we can't explain is moved to the category 'not real'?
Science will change more than we will ever know, and things that are said not to exist will eventually be proven to exist, and even vice versa.

As long as we all remember that science is man's product, and man would be selfish and an idiot to think that they know all.

Answer 2

That is an extremely difficult question, but yes, indeed it can.
We actually know so little about things which seem to defy a rational explanation, but which nevertheless do happen.

Genuine, excellent scientists never think that they know everything.

HOWEVER...... they are usually pretty damn close on most things, and really CAN find an explanation for a lot of stuff people would rather believe mystical (or a conspiracy by the government......) Those sorts of people, usually, just aren't using their intelligence.
Also, there are many who think that science and religion are incompatible, though they don't have to be.

Those who really take the time to find out, realize that the wonders of what is called science are FAR more awesome than the far easier explanations, sometimes.

I'd love to know what it is exactly that you are wondering about. Can you be more specific?

Answer 3

No. I agree with lunatic. Science is the the search for truths, and in the process science has come up with many theories (ie Big Bang, String Theory etc.) which are not necessarily entirely true, and others which are later modified (ie. Newtons Laws of Motion), but so long as they are theories they are open to further investigation. Science has proved many things to be true, but does not claim anything does not exist unless it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
By defintion, science cannot claim something does not exist unless it doesn't.

Answer 4

It's an axiom of science that you can't prove a negative. It's not scientifically correct to say something doesn't exist, though it will sometimes be reported that way in the press. A scientist will say something like "no evidence was found for", or "theory does not support the existence of", flying pigs or whatever.

Answer 5

Of course. The reality of the universe determines what the laws of nature are, not the other way round.

Science is constantly revised and rewritten to accommodate new discoveries - if something that was previously indicated to be impossible by previous scientific investigation is incontrevertibly shown to be true, then science adapts to accept and explain it. That's what science is - the most accurate description of reality that can be created.

Answer 6

Science tries to make sense of the world by observing it and figuring it out. If something exists and you can prove it, then that it evidence which the scientists will use to form their theories. If the fact conflicts with their theories, then they will change the theories.

Answer 7

that in itself is the beauty of science. in order for something to exist it has to be proved, u can take that for fact or try to prove it, a true scientist will not accept that as the truth and will not stop until an answer is achieved

Answer 8

I challenge you to find any scientific literature that makes a statement that any one thing does not exist.

Science is not in the business of disproving anything. It is in the business of trying to understand what makes the universe tick through observation and analysis of reproducible evidence.

Answer 9

Yes.
Science has it's limitation, relative to time.
If you consider yourself to be a man of science, then you should know what I'm talking about.

Answer 10

Absolutely--science has not figured everything out yet. Who's to say that all scientists are all right, anyway.