In science, a working hypothesis is the simplest explanation that accounts for all of the known facts. Who needs any other sort of hypothesis?
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palmagma
ANSWERS: 2
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Well, ideally you want to account for all of the known facts and then some. That is to say, you want to be able to make predictions about facts that are not yet known (and then check out of if the predictions are correct). Without predictive power (and the falsifiability that comes with it), the hypothesis isn't really good for anything.
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Yes but it's not always obvious just what the simplest explanation actually is. Want to win a Nobel prize? Look at all the known facts about cancer cells and then find the 'simplest explanation' ! Newton's simple idea was based on centuries of painstaking astronomical observations. Darwin's simple idea was based on a lifetime as a naturalist. And so on. Good science is hard.
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