We need other forms of logic and reasoning to develop hypotheses
Finally, and critically, I would suggest that hypotheses are often derived through reasoning that is not hypothetico-deductive in nature (Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein 1999). One reason why hypothesis use may be low in ecology is because these other forms of reasoning needed to create good hypotheses are undervalued and crowded out. Ecology and Evolution is one of only a handful of journals that have a specific “Hypothesis” article format. In my experience, an interesting and novel hypothesis in ecology, socioecology, the ecology-evolution interface, or conservation, can take multiple pages to fully reason through, justify, and render precise, as different forms of data (cross-disciplinary, observational, inductively derived, ILK, experimental, etc.) are woven together. Darwin required several entire books to work out his ideas. In contemporary ecology, the people who write book-length research texts are mainly eminent scientists with international reputations. These should not be the only people, or the only phases in one’s career, dedicated to ecological reasoning. We all need experience with other forms of logic and reasoning to construct good hypotheses. Thus giving space to the reasoning required to develop interesting and novel hypotheses can also promote the development of these multiple forms of non-hypothetico-deductive argumentation, reasoning, and logic suited to ecological subjects.
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