Question

Someone tells you that scientific knowledge cannot be changed or modified. How would you answer this statement?

Answer 1

Scientific knowledge can be modified. This is because all the scientific principles that are existing now is not certain for all possible conditions. Scientific knowledge is not directly given to us, human minds work the effort of unveiling the unknown. Thus, scientists are slowly discovering the science of all natural phenomena. Along the way, they could come up with misinterpretations. Let me give a concrete example. When J.J. Thompson proposed the Plum-Pudding model, it was the widely accepted theory in the field of atomic science. However, when Rutherford did his golden foil experiment, he disproved Thompson's model and proposed the Planetary Model. Therefore, scientific knowledge is an ongoing process. Scientists would always want to disprove each other, not because they want to compete with each other. They want to discover the truth together with what they have to the best of their abilities. They are never content with just one simple principle according to one scientist. It will always be verified by a group of fellow scientists.

In the 21st century where technology is exponentially progressing, scientists would discover more of the basic principles. Hence, we would expect that scientific knowledge is constantly changing and modifying.