I would stay away from the accept/reject terminology and simply say they should assign low probability to this theory due to Occam’s razor, and increase the probability if it survives experimental tests.
We can come up with a scientific theory that is not based on observation. Most theories aren’t based on observation. Observation comes after. ‘I bet I can jump that fence’ comes before observing it.
It’s more of a cycle of observation leading to theory leading to more observation and so on. “I bet I can jump that fence” comes before observing whether you actually can, but it comes after observing the fence and your jumping abilities. You wouldn’t decide you can jump that fence without first observing it.
I would stay away from the accept/reject terminology and simply say they should assign low probability to this theory due to Occam’s razor, and increase the probability if it survives experimental tests.
It’s more of a cycle of observation leading to theory leading to more observation and so on. “I bet I can jump that fence” comes before observing whether you actually can, but it comes after observing the fence and your jumping abilities. You wouldn’t decide you can jump that fence without first observing it.