I am hopeful that the combination of theoretical findings and experimental evidence offers a strong and compelling case.
Karl Popper suggests that experimental results are the main way of validating or rejecting theories. While this sounds straight forward, the reality is that people have a stake in their own point of view. This will naturally color one’s interpretation of any experiment or theory.
Max Planck, one of the fathers of Quantum theory, suggests that “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
Thomas Kuhn, in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, incorporates both points of view as he summaries how new theories are adopted.
“After the discovery has been assimilated, scientists [are] able to account for a wider range of natural phenomena or to account for greater precision for some of those previously known. But, that gain [is] achieved only by discarding some previously standard beliefs or procedures and, simultaneously, by replacing those components of the previous paradigm with others.”
Given this understanding, I expect that some will quickly accept my findings, some will take longer to convince, and some may never be convinced.
