3. HYPOTHESES, LAWS AND THEORIES.
In science, we commonly use terms like hypothesis, laws and theories. While these terms have very concrete meanings in science, they are often used in regular conversation with a completely different meaning. This has often led to misunderstandings about the validity of some of our most important scientific work. For example, in normal conversation we tend to use the word "theory" to imply a "hunch" or a "guess" about something, without necessarily too much evidence backing it up. We may hear something like "My theory is that he worked until late, got tired and forgot about our dinner engagement". The lay use of the word theory often leads non scientists to quickly dismiss important scientific theories on the grounds that "hey, it's just a theory, it's not a fact". A clear and repeated example of this is the scientific theory of evolution, often bashed by non scientists using this very argument. There may be other theories equally valid as well". So, what is a scientific theory?
The goal of this post is to clarify, in the simplest possible way the most common terminology used in science: observation, fact, hypothesis, law, theory.
The meaning of these terms goes to the very core of how science operates. Let's use a very simple example. Let's imagine that your dog exhibits from time to time typical inflammation symptoms (redness, heat, pain, swelling) in the chest and abdominal area.
In science, we commonly use terms like hypothesis, laws and theories. While these terms have very concrete meanings in science, they are often used in regular conversation with a completely different meaning. This has often led to misunderstandings about the validity of some of our most important scientific work. For example, in normal conversation we tend to use the word "theory" to imply a "hunch" or a "guess" about something, without necessarily too much evidence backing it up. We may hear something like "My theory is that he worked until late, got tired and forgot about our dinner engagement". The lay use of the word theory often leads non scientists to quickly dismiss important scientific theories on the grounds that "hey, it's just a theory, it's not a fact". A clear and repeated example of this is the scientific theory of evolution, often bashed by non scientists using this very argument. There may be other theories equally valid as well". So, what is a scientific theory?
The goal of this post is to clarify, in the simplest possible way the most common terminology used in science: observation, fact, hypothesis, law, theory.
The meaning of these terms goes to the very core of how science operates. Let's use a very simple example. Let's imagine that your dog exhibits from time to time typical inflammation symptoms (redness, heat, pain, swelling) in the chest and abdominal area.
No comments:
Post a Comment