Anomalies that disconfirm theory become prized scientific opportunities today

Evidence

What I meant by theoretical gains was that the next kind of work that you feel able to do is done in a profoundly different way because you’ve had to wrestle with a new set of what I call conundra. You move within a different set of positions and with a set of conceptual insights which have emerged through what I metaphorically called struggling with the angels. I don’t know if that new work has any built-in guarantee that it’s better than the work you did before, quite often it’s not. I’m trying to represent the movement of theory, not from theorist to theorist or problematic to problematic, but from problem to … I don’t want to say solution because as soon as you get something which resolves a particular theoretical problem, you have instantly to recognize what it doesn’t do. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 268 (#expands, via linked claim)

Not surprisingly, there exists the counter-fallacy of argumentum ad novitam or an appeal to novelty, modernity, current mores or youth. — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1068 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Scientists actively seek to overthrow their own provisional beliefs; A true but incomplete theory can make its holder misread anomalies; An appeal to novelty is the mirror-image counter-fallacy — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1068 (+2 more)

Related

• An appeal to novelty is the mirror-image counter-fallacy (similarity 0.84)
• Mildly counterintuitive concepts are remembered and transmitted best (similarity 0.82)
• Theoretical progress means gaining new problems, not resolving old ones (similarity 0.81)
• Theory develops unevenly, paced by practical necessities rather than its own logic (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Theoretical progress means gaining new problems, not resolving old ones #expands (0.85) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 268
• A true but incomplete theory can make its holder misread anomalies #complicates (0.82)
• An appeal to novelty is the mirror-image counter-fallacy #complicates (0.80) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1068