The preferred proposal returns to the same criterion
State explicit criteria for accepting or revising an account early, then invoke those same criteria when assessing later rival accounts and the author’s preferred explanation.
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking · 112 weeksThe preferred proposal returns to the same criterion
Hawking connects fluctuations permitted by the no-boundary proposal to the structure of the early universe and the COBE observations. He explicitly revisits the Popper criterion when characterizing the proposal.
The repeated evaluative language lets readers ask whether the preferred proposal has earned the same kind of assessment used for the rejected alternative. The foreword’s qualification about distinguishing alternatives is necessary context.
The source in context.
The argument applies the combination of relativity and quantum ideas to the early universe. After the hot big bang, anthropic reasoning and inflation, Hawking develops the no-boundary proposal and discusses observations he regards as relevant to it.
Open this chapterWhat this example supports
The repeated evaluative language lets readers ask whether the preferred proposal has earned the same kind of assessment used for the rejected alternative. The foreword’s qualification about distinguishing alternatives is necessary context.
Its limit
Agreement is not unique confirmation: the source foreword at lines 145–147 states that further observations are needed to distinguish this proposal from other explanations.
Source & edition
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time; supplied updated local ebook text; copyright 1988 and 1996, publishing history lists 1998 Bantam editions; eISBN 9780553896923. Includes the added chapter on wormholes and time travel.
Supplied text, lines 829–833. The description is an original editorial paraphrase, not a quotation.
The completed whole-source AI synthesis supplied candidate observations and the broad argument map. This Codex editorial pass checked original source headings, section boundaries, openings and selected argumentative contexts; inspected every retained example; checked the existing pattern dictionary and base examples; and rewrote or rejected nominations. It is a source-checked editorial pass, not a new independently adjudicated whole-book reading.
supplied updated local ebook text; copyright 1988 and 1996, publishing history lists 1998 Bantam editions; eISBN 9780553896923. Includes the added chapter on wormholes and time travel