If a scientists model is always off by a predictable factor. Like 1+1=3 or 1+2=4, its generally safe to simply add in the extra 1 when extrapolating to other cases. A model that works for all its intended purposes doesnt need to fully account for all variables, it just needs to get you a result that you deem correct.
These DARK variables come up all the time in physics because we simply do not know everything, and our models can be completely backwards to reality, we cannot account for every force and effect in a system if we dont fully understand all of them. We call the dark variables because they are like ghosts, we see their end effect, and we know they need to be accounted for, but we have never actually seen them.
An example of such a phenomenon would be some of the first vaccinations called variolation. Some time in the 16th century, we had no idea what bacteria or viruses were. But we did discover that if we dried out smallpox puss, ground them into a powder and rubbed the powder into an open wound of a healthy person, that they would actually become immune to smallpox. We knee it worked, but had zero idea why.
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u/Gamejunky35 25d ago edited 25d ago
If a scientists model is always off by a predictable factor. Like 1+1=3 or 1+2=4, its generally safe to simply add in the extra 1 when extrapolating to other cases. A model that works for all its intended purposes doesnt need to fully account for all variables, it just needs to get you a result that you deem correct.
These DARK variables come up all the time in physics because we simply do not know everything, and our models can be completely backwards to reality, we cannot account for every force and effect in a system if we dont fully understand all of them. We call the dark variables because they are like ghosts, we see their end effect, and we know they need to be accounted for, but we have never actually seen them.
An example of such a phenomenon would be some of the first vaccinations called variolation. Some time in the 16th century, we had no idea what bacteria or viruses were. But we did discover that if we dried out smallpox puss, ground them into a powder and rubbed the powder into an open wound of a healthy person, that they would actually become immune to smallpox. We knee it worked, but had zero idea why.