Comments on: surprise, surprise! everything is just a theory

By: [Q] What is Science? - Page 2 - Science Forums

[Q] What is Science? - Page 2 - Science Forums — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:09:37 +0000

[...] What is Science? surprise, surprise! everything is just a theory weird things [...]

By: MrCool

MrCool — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:49:00 +0000

The problem lies in the school system. At school, all you get taught is scientific “facts” and how to do experiments etc., but you are never taught about scientific methodology as a whole, and this I think, needs to change. I was never taught about the words: theory, falsifiability, Occam’s razor, models and predictions. I only learned them when I took it upon myself in my later education. This is the foundations of science and in becoming a scientist.

By: Jeff Goldstein

Jeff Goldstein — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:08:02 +0000

About the use of “Theory” in science.

http://blogontheuniverse.org/about/drjeff-speaks-out/

and on the subject of math literacy read the opening of this http://bit.ly/Ks5dV

Jeff Goldstein

Center Director

National Center for Earth and Space Science Education

By: isnessie

isnessie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:42:20 +0000

Really love this post, it explains the problem with that ‘it’s just a theory’ attitude so well. I don’t have much to add except that I think, as the others do, that it comes down to being properly educated to use the correct words and understand the weight of words in context – something I think many people turn their nose up at, unfortunately. Thanks for the heads up, maybe I’ll be able to explain this better the next time!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:13:06 +0000

*applause*

I have nothing really to add to what you said. Just thanks for raising awareness of this issue!

By: BrianR

BrianR — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:59:34 +0000

One aspect that I think contributes to this problem is the sloppy usage of ‘theory’ in everyday language when ‘hypothesis’ should be used. For example, people will come up with some reason for something that has happened or is happening (and often something mundane) — and they’ll say “Well, my theory is that so-and-so said such-and-such, which caused blah blah … “.

This is an untested idea … it is a hypothesis.

So, when ‘theory’ is thrown around so willy-nilly like this in our popular vernacular, the true meaning of the word, as you’ve written about above, could be diminished. There is rarely a single-factor explanation for stuff like this, but I wonder if this aspect does contribute to the problems.

If so, the question then is if we can somehow get ‘hypothesis’ into our everyday speech to help define the distinction.