Nothing unreal exists.
Something that is not real cannot be studied in the sense of detecting,
measuring, or collecting empirical evidence. It's always something real or
the manifestation of something real that is studied. Science (used loosely)
or those studying a particular thing may not understand what it is they are
studying and therefore go off on errant paths making hypothesis that
postulate the existence of something unreal.
I would venture to say that if science is the search for and obtaining of
knowledge, and that knowledge is unflawed, therefore can be called true
(truth), that it is also real. Those things found to be unreal "drop off
the radar", as they are not real, and are realized to be scientifically
untrue.
Tom C.
Science is defined to be:
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science:
noun
The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study
of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through
observation and experiment : the world of science and technology.
- a particular area of this : veterinary science | the agricultural
sciences.
- a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject :
the science of criminology.
- archaic knowledge of any kind.
ORIGIN Middle English (denoting knowledge): from Old French, from Latin
scientia, from scire know.
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Note that this definition has no mention of the words "real" or "reality"
in it. Notions of reality are part of philosophy (typically metaphysics
and epistemology), not science.
Godfrey
