Many people do not understand the difference between a hypothesis and a theory. Nothing pisses me off more than hearing "Evolution is just a theory!" The word "theory" in regular speech is not to be confused with the scientific term. A theory in science is a hypothesis that has been tested over and over with strong evidence suggesting it's correct but none to prove it incorrect. A hypothesis, however, is an educated guess that you test by doing experiments. Gravity, for example, is still technically a theory, but no one seems to be arguing about the legitimacy of that. I guess it's because no one ever wrote a book saying that God doesn't want us to believe in gravity.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Theory vs. Hypothesis
Many people do not understand the difference between a hypothesis and a theory. Nothing pisses me off more than hearing "Evolution is just a theory!" The word "theory" in regular speech is not to be confused with the scientific term. A theory in science is a hypothesis that has been tested over and over with strong evidence suggesting it's correct but none to prove it incorrect. A hypothesis, however, is an educated guess that you test by doing experiments. Gravity, for example, is still technically a theory, but no one seems to be arguing about the legitimacy of that. I guess it's because no one ever wrote a book saying that God doesn't want us to believe in gravity.
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