Question

Do you think physical evidence had increased in importance over the last decades, with advancements in technology and testing procedures? why or why not?

Answer 1

I guess it depends on what your investigating and the philosophy applied to that investigation. For physics/Science....yes...physical evidence is critical except perhaps at the very bleeding edge of theoretical science. There, people are proposing ideas that have yet to be explored...but eventually you will need physical evidence to support the theory in order to determine which of a group of competing theories is correct. In fact, I don;t like calling them theories at all because of the lack of evidence...I would term them early ideas.