Why is speculation forbidden in science?
Answers
Speculation is not completely forbidden in science. ... Speculation is so easy and tempting in settings where it leads more to errors than to accurate information, that most often speculation in science is discouraged. But there is still a limited, useful, role for speculation in science.
Speculation is not completely forbidden in science. In fact, used at the proper stage of science (hypothesis-forming), clever speculation can be quite useful. Speculation is so easy and tempting in settings where it leads more to errors than to accurate information, that most often speculation in science is discouraged. But there is still a limited, useful, role for speculation in science. By "speculation", I mean making a statement about the physical world with near zero evidence to back up the claim. Let us look at instances where speculation is non-productive in science, and then the instance where it is productive.