Could a hypothesis be proved scientifically by testing its predictions if a diff. hypo made exactly the same -?
You can’t ever prove a hypothesis, you can only disprove one. If two different hypotheses predict the same experimental result, which is observed, then you cannot exclude either hypothesis on the basis of that experiment. A clever scientist would then design a different experiment that would lead each hypothesis to predict different results. If that cannot be done, and there is no way to experimentally distinguish between the two hypotheses, then it becomes a philosophical problem, rather than a scientific one. An example of two scientific hypothesis that are distinguishable would be whether or not the universe is open or closed. Measurements will show whether or not it will expand indefinitely or collapse into a big crunch. A philosophical argument would be whether the universe before the big bang was purple or green. Proposing the universe was a specific color won’t lead to any testable way to distinguish whether it was or wasn’t, so it’s a philosophical issue.
