"We never know, we only conjecture" (Imre Lakatos).
"There are no facts, only interpretations" (Nietzsche).
"Theories do not derive from data, but from the free play of intelligence" (Einstein).
"Theory, human thought, does not discover the universe, but builds it" (Ortega y Gasset).
Thesis, Hypothesis and Conjecture
A thesis −from the Greek "thésis", establishment, proposition, collocation− is that which is asserted or proposed because its veracity has been justified, substantiated or argued in some way, but which has not yet been formally demonstrated or because it cannot be demonstrated. A thesis can be considered equivalent to a scientific theory.
A scientific thesis must fulfill a number of properties:
It must consist of a novel idea that solves a problem, simplifies a topic, or improves the state of the art in a domain. This novel idea must be clarifying.
It must involve a scientific advance.
It must be consistent, i.e., not contradictory.
It must be well-founded.
It must be described in a clear and understandable manner.
Its field of application must be specified.
It must be falsifiable or verifiable,
It must not contradict or limit any other accepted thesis.
An example of a thesis is the Church-Turing thesis for computability. Since computability cannot be defined at the theoretical level, it is defined as anything that can be performed by a Turing machine, an abstract machine.
A hypothesis −from the Greek "hypo", under, and "thesis", proposition− is an assumption, something we presuppose as a basic element necessary to elaborate a theory or thesis.
A conjecture −from Latin "coniectura"− is a statement that is assumed to be true, but has not been proved or disproved to date. Once the truth of a conjecture is proved, it is considered a theorem that can be used to construct other formal proofs.
There are many conjectures in mathematics. Until recently, the best known conjecture was the so-called "Fermat's last theorem": the expression an+bn = cn (where < i>a, b, c and n positive integers) is not satisfied for n>>2. Pierre de Fermat noted in a margin of his book of Diophantus' Arithmetic that he had found a solution, but had no space to write it down. This conjecture finally became a theorem (after more than three centuries) when Andrew Wiles proved it in 1995.
MENTAL, a Universal Thesis
MENTAL is a universal thesis about the essential structure of internal and external reality. Any structure or process can be modeled and represented with MENTAL, a universal language based on primary archetypes. It is neither a hypothesis nor a conjecture. It is a thesis that cannot be demonstrated. It cannot be demonstrated for three reasons:
Because, by the very nature of primary archetypes, they are inexpressible. We can only express particular examples.
Because primary archetypes cannot be expressed in more basic concepts.
Because primary archetypes are of an intuitive type, and demonstrating them involves using reason.
MENTAL, as a thesis, fulfills the above properties:
It presents a novel idea that improves the state of the art of, not just one domain, since it is a thesis that affects all domains. This novel idea is clarifying and simplifying.
It is a scientific breakthrough. The best scientific breakthroughs are those that unite or unify different domains. The greatest advances in science are integrative, unifying, generalist, synthetic, global, holistic, intuitive, those that allow us to contemplate the totality. The maximum advance would be a theory of everything and MENTAL is it.
It is not contradictory, it is well founded, and its description is clear and simple.
Its field of application is universal. It is a thesis along the lines of the Church-Turing thesis as a computational model. But MENTAL is an operational (or computational) and descriptive model.
It is falsifiable. MENTAL cannot be proved. It can only be falsified, i.e., show an example that cannot be expressed by language.
It does not contradict or limit any other accepted thesis.
MENTAL is also a thesis in the literal sense because it is based on a doctoral thesis. A doctoral thesis is a paper presented as a document that solves a problem or supports a novel idea and is formally presented and defended, orally, before a tribunal (examining board).
Bibliography
Eco, Umberto. Cómo se hace una tesis. Técnicas y procedimientos de investigación, estudio y escritura. Gedisa, 1997. Disponible en Internet.
Eco, Umberto; Farina, Caterina Mongiat. How to Write a Thesis. The MIT Press, 2015.
Fernández de Marcos Morales, Ramón Jesús. Elaboración, preparación, y defensa de una tesis doctoral. Gerüst Creaciones, 2011.
Gallego Fernández, Antonio. Ser doctor: Cómo redactor una tesis doctoral. Fundación Universidad-Empresa Madrid, 1987.
Linde Paniagua, Enrique. Cómo se hace una tesis doctoral. Colex, 2014.
Phillips, Estelle M. La tesis doctoral. Un manual para estudiantes y sus directores. Profit, 2008.
Rivera Camino, Jaime. Cómo escribir y publicar una tesis doctoral. ESIC Editorial, 2011.
Turabian, Kate L.; Booth, Wayne C. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. University of Chicago Press, 2013.
