On: What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact...

[anon_123g987]

> "Science is prediction, not explanation." - Fred Hoyle

I don't know about string theory, but this is totally wrong. Exploiting a simple correlation gives you the ability to predict to a certain extent, but that's not science, that's numerology. I couldn't find the source of the quote, but I looked up the guy and found what I expected. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle#Other_controversies:

Hoyle also supported the following controversial hypotheses and speculations:

The correlation of flu epidemics with the sunspot cycle, with epidemics occurring at the minimum of the cycle. The idea was that flu contagion was scattered in the interstellar medium and reached Earth only when the solar wind had minimum power.

[...]

[thechao → anon_123g987]

Hoyle wrote an entire — very entertaining — book at as indictment of the Big Bang hypothesis, which he didn't like. It's called "The Black Cloud".

[Fomite → anon_123g987]

The best predictive model I've ever made tied rotavirus seasonality to prom dress sales.

Science is explanation, which suggests testable predictions.