underdetermine
Etymology
From under- + determine.
underdetermine means particularly in the theory of scientific explanation, to provide too few constraints to specify a unique solution. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
Why this word is great
UNDERDETERMINE — [Verb] To provide insufficient evidence or constraints to uniquely specify a single explanation, theory, or solution, especially in scientific or philosophical contexts. Formed within English by derivation from the prefix under- (meaning "insufficiently" or "below the required level") and the verb determine (from Latin determinare, "to set bounds to, to settle"). Unlike "determine," which nails a matter shut with finality, or "overdetermine," which drowns the truth in a surfeit of competing proofs, to underdetermine is to offer a key that fits several locks. It is the astronomer whose data admits two rival orbits, the historian whose fragments support three plausible motives, the detective left with a perfect alibi and a lingering scent of perfume—the quiet recognition that what we know often outlines a shape we cannot definitively fill.
verb
- Particularly in the theory of scientific explanation, to provide too few constraints to specify a unique solution.“1967 A. H. Armstrong (ed) The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy
He recognised that, in constructing his laws, the physicist must go beyond the ‘facts’ which inevitably underdetermine his theories. Boltzmann rightly accused both the idealists and the inductivists of having ignored this basic limitation on the certainty of all scientific hypotheses.”