There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. That's why I like observational evidence to verify theories & models of complex phenomena.
Where you are wrong Frank is that there is no verification of theories ... only falsification. No such thing as evidence of or proof of theoretical ideas.
There is no one standard demarcation of sufficient warrant for a scientific theory, jpsdad. While I agree that Popper's falsification criterion is attractive (indeed, I used to teach it in economics class), not every theory or idea can be falsified, even in principle. The fashionable theory of a multiverse is one good example. Causes of past events, like the end of the dinosaurs or the Cambrian Explosion of new body plans, are another.
My dad taught me that not all authorities had genuine expertise, so it was best to check their claims against the observational evidence. Indeed, certain kinds of errors tend to repeat, even among experts. That skeptical philosophy has served me well.
