2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: So. FL, MO, NC, OH, and IL vote on Tuesday. My predictions. [View all]Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Data are facts in that they are what they are. They are measurements, observation, with all that goes along with that. We can say the data is what it is (that is, it is a fact that my measurement was THIS), but that's it. Scientific theories do not represent "Truth." They are a model. And like all models, they are incomplete.
And that's the point, right? No matter how good or predictive your model is within a domain, there is always the chance that it will be wrong, perhaps very wrong if a factor not accounted for emerges, or if some assumptions were wrong. But that does not invalidate the model as a concept. We know, for example, that F=ma is not actually True, but for 99+% of all practical applications, it may as well be.
But I think we are in basic agreement on that subject.