Science and Marriage1
The Inadequacy of Inductivism and Falsificationism
In India, marriages are often made after careful and painstaking observation and collection of data about the prospective bride and the groom. They (the parents, mostly) conduct all manners of enquiries, often extending over several months, concerning their families, hereditary traits, lineage, affluence, age, astrological fitness for the purpose, talents, personal interests, educational qualifications, habits, complexion, physical features, and even such things as whether the prospective bride or groom drinks coffee in bed, which is generally considered a bad habit. When all the data has thus been collected by either side, they sit down and make a decision as to whether the marriage can be arranged successfully. If it can, which is the case if one side can afford the dowry the other asks, the marriage is made and once made cannot be broken. Such a marriage is infallible, even though the couple may prove to be incompatible with each other after marriage. It's just too bad if the husband2 later develops a severe distaste for his in-laws whom his wife insists on having visit them every weekend. He'll just have to live with it. The sacred bond of union is inviolable and cannot be broken at any cost - Such is the typical view in American media of an Indian marriage3. Substitute "Scientific Theory" for "Marriage" and you have the Inductivist account of Science.