The scientific method is the experimental testing of a hypothesis formulated after the systematic, objective collection of data. A scientist who studies our immune system phrased this idea very well:
I now appreciate how much I learn by being wrong. I can change my mind when confronted with a rational argument, without the need to have the change appear to be purely semantic or to hope it will pass unnoticed. What must it be like to be a priest, general, bureaucrat, lawyer, medicine person, or politician who is never permitted to be wrong? No wonder they learn so slowly. I am grateful to be in a profession where the realization of being wrong is equivalent to an increase in knowledge.
-Melvin Cohn. Ann Rv. of Immunology 12, 2 (1994)
The scientific method is often divided into steps. This is helpful for putting the method into context, but keep in mind that the key element of the scientific method is testing the hypothesis. In other words, can you prove that......
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