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To: Coyoteman
The problem I see is that some folks hate the results of one particular branch of science (evolution), and so are seeking through any means necessary to destroy science in general and evolution in particular.

None of those people is me.

Sorry, a scientific theory is never proved.

Sorry, your opinion on that is just that. Maybe you can take a stab at telling me the difference between "scientific theory" and theory. All the rest have scoffed,,,,and then retreated.

What you are saying is that atomic energy was never speculated about before it was used by men. And germs didn't get theorized about before they were shown to cause illness. If I misstate, please educate me.

791 posted on 12/20/2005 12:56:19 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: Protagoras
Sorry, a scientific theory is never proved.

Sorry, your opinion on that is just that. Maybe you can take a stab at telling me the difference between "scientific theory" and theory. All the rest have scoffed,,,,and then retreated.

As used in science, a theory is the goal of research. As I have posted before, we use the definition more like this:

Theory: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory"

When we deal with a theory we do not mean a "guess," even though that is how a theory is often seen in the vernacular. "Well, that's your theory" incorporates that latter usage. Hypothesis is probably closer, but still not exact:

Hypothesis: a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices"

A very good explanation of the way science operates was provided on another thread. Its a bit long, but seems pretty clear.

From an NSF abstract:

As with all scientific knowledge, a theory can be refined or even replaced by an alternative theory in light of new and compelling evidence. The geocentric theory that the sun revolves around the earth was replaced by the heliocentric theory of the earth's rotation on its axis and revolution around the sun. However, ideas are not referred to as "theories" in science unless they are supported by bodies of evidence that make their subsequent abandonment very unlikely. When a theory is supported by as much evidence as evolution, it is held with a very high degree of confidence.

In science, the word "hypothesis" conveys the tentativeness inherent in the common use of the word "theory.' A hypothesis is a testable statement about the natural world. Through experiment and observation, hypotheses can be supported or rejected. At the earliest level of understanding, hypotheses can be used to construct more complex inferences and explanations. Like "theory," the word "fact" has a different meaning in science than it does in common usage. A scientific fact is an observation that has been confirmed over and over. However, observations are gathered by our senses, which can never be trusted entirely. Observations also can change with better technologies or with better ways of looking at data. For example, it was held as a scientific fact for many years that human cells have 24 pairs of chromosomes, until improved techniques of microscopy revealed that they actually have 23. Ironically, facts in science often are more susceptible to change than theories, which is one reason why the word "fact" is not much used in science.

Finally, "laws" in science are typically descriptions of how the physical world behaves under certain circumstances. For example, the laws of motion describe how objects move when subjected to certain forces. These laws can be very useful in supporting hypotheses and theories, but like all elements of science they can be altered with new information and observations.

Those who oppose the teaching of evolution often say that evolution should be taught as a "theory, not as a fact." This statement confuses the common use of these words with the scientific use. In science, theories do not turn into facts through the accumulation of evidence. Rather, theories are the end points of science. They are understandings that develop from extensive observation, experimentation, and creative reflection. They incorporate a large body of scientific facts, laws, tested hypotheses, and logical inferences. In this sense, evolution is one of the strongest and most useful scientific theories we have.

Modified from RadioAstronomers's post #27 on another thread.


820 posted on 12/20/2005 1:07:01 PM PST by Coyoteman (I love the sound of beta decay in the morning!)
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