Observations, Mathematical Modeling and Purported Facts: Standard Solar Models as a Case Study

Abstract

The subject work has provenance as originating as an example that was considered, by the subject author, for inclusion in a different work, which was focused primarily upon a philosophical context. A portion of the latter serves as introductory for this work. Specifically, a position of metaphysical and ontological realism is coupled with a position of epistemic humility. This is applied to science, as an ideal episteme, characterized by a method for which Popperian falsification is a key component. Korzybski’s cartographic analogy and Box’s characterization of models are coupled to the perspective that every symbolic system, whether it be natural language, formal logic or mathematics, involves assumptions, stated or otherwise, in regards to that which is or is not considered as being within the domain of reality. Hawking’s claims regarding the (premature) death of philosophy and the role of scientists as the (purported) torch bearers in the quest for knowledge is evaluated in the general context of astrophysics and cosmology, and specifically in regards to the use of standard solar models (SSMs). Key to this evaluation are the modeling assumptions that are typically made not only in regards to equations of state and process relationships but also in regards to observations. Rather than finding facts, one finds models that are rendered to be unfalsifiable secondary to the use of tunable parameters, claims that fail to meet a reduced standard of verification, model based circularity and observations that are heavily model-laden in regards to their filtering.