[hpoe]

I think this is an important point, ultimately good science will produce, verifiable, testable, actionable results. Until you have that no matter how much math you use, how many lab coats you've got, no matter how many journals you publish in you're just sitting there playing with strings.

[jrochkind1]

Telling when this has happened can be less trivial than you would assume though. People (scientists even) were sure that phrenology produced verifiable, testable, actionable results for a generation or two.

In the long run it usually comes out, but the run can be longer than you think, and you may not be where you think in it with regard to any particular current theory. I wonder what things we know all "know" are proven by science will be dismissed by later generations. (I personally guess a lot of genetics-related stuff will be).

(Note that something doesn't need to be verifiable, reliable, or true to be "actionable". You can act on anything...)