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A POSTERIORI: A conclusion reached through logical reasoning based on facts and observations about the real world. This notion is closely related to the scientific verification of hypotheses and the identification of principles. A similar sounding, but opposite term is a prior, which is a unverified presumption made before an analysis is undertaken. For example, in the study of economics of crime you might assume, a priori, that people are basically "good", and conclude, a posteriori, that people are more likely to commit crimes when the threat of capture and conviction is lower.
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                           PHENOMENON: An event or action that is subject to investigation, analysis, and explanation using the scientific method. Phenomena are the sorts of things that science seeks to explain. They can be common events, like the blowing wind, or unusual, like the extinction of the dinosaurs. While the term phenomenon might entice thoughts of UFOs, ghosts, and mutant three-headed turtles, it really applies to any type of event or action. These events can be extraordinary or mundane. They can be unusual or common place.The types of events falling under the heading of phenomena and subject to scientific study include the sun rising, the stock market falling, a person talking, a volcano erupting, a basketball bouncing, a star exploding, and a bird flying. Some of these events might not seem appropriately suited to be called phenomena because they are quite ordinary. The ExtraordinaryScience is definitely interested in explaining unusual and extraordinary events. If a glowing, three-dimensional, translucent image of Abraham Lincoln playing badminton with Issac Newton suddenly appears on the front lawn of the White House, then science would certainly seek an explanation. Scientists salivate profusely at the prospect of explaining the occurrence of exceptional events. Doing so pushes forth the frontiers of science. It reveals possible deficiencies in existing theories and avenues for improvement.The Great Depression of the 1930s, for example, revealed flaws in the existing classical economic explanation of the macroeconomy and induced economists to push forth the theoretical boundaries of economic science. The OrdinaryScience, however, seeks to explain ordinary and mundane events, as well. It is also interested in explaining the glow of fireflies, the flight of a badminton shuttlecock, and the growth of grass on the front lawn of the White House. Explaining common events means that a theory works, that it has captured the essential laws of nature.The same theory that might explain the catastrophic downturn of the Great Depression also needs to explain an increase in the unemployment rate from 5.1 percent to 5.2 percent. If it fails to explain the ordinary, then a theory has no chance of explaining the extraordinary.
Recommended Citation:PHENOMENON, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2021. [Accessed: September 21, 2021].
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BEIGE MUNDORTLE
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time browsing through a long list of dot com websites looking to buy either a set of steel-belted radial snow tires or a wall poster commemorating the 2000 Presidential election. Be on the lookout for crowded shopping malls.
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Paper money used by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prior to the U.S. Revolutionary War, which was issued against the dictates of Britain, was designed by patriot and silversmith, Paul Revere.
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"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. " -- Boris Pasternak, writer
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NSF
National Science Foundation
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