Full Idea
The cost of the hypothetico-deductive method …is that we are left in the dark about the source of the hypotheses themselves.
Gist of Idea
If we make a hypothesis about data, then a deduction, where does the hypothesis come from?
Source
Peter Lipton (Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd) [2004], 05 'Explanation')
Book Reference
Lipton,Peter: 'Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd ed)' [Routledge 2004], p.83
A Reaction
How do we distinguish a wild hypothesis from a plausible one? It can only be from patterns in the data, rather than mere accumulations of data. If water causes cholera, or smoking causes cancer, the hypothesis guides the data search.