Accepting Theories

After picking up a copy of The Scientist (May 13, 1991) and reading the responses of Forrest Mims III and Arthur Caplan to other readers' letters [page 14], I found it shocking that these two self-proclaimed scientists have lost the understanding of what theory is. While Mims appears to be qualified to write about hands-on technology, his failure to accept evolutionism as a theory (whether he agrees with it or not or whether it is worth anything once man knows the ultimate truth to everything)

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Just because present data more strongly support evolutionism does not mean that other theories, including creationism, are not possible. In many theories (and especially those dealing with this subject), there are some parts that cannot be tested adequately using today's limited technology or because of time constraints. All scientists should keep in mind what the late physicist Richard P. Feynman told a group at the University of California, Los Angeles, as reprinted in his book QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton University Press, 1985). According to Feynman, there is the possibility that: "...after I tell you something, you just can't believe it. You can't accept it. You don't like it. A little screen comes down and you don't listen anymore.... It's a problem that physicists have learned to deal with: They have learned to realize that whether they like a theory or they don't like a theory ...

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