2006-12-06 00:34:36 · 4 answers · asked by hot carl sagan: ninja for hire 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
A scientific theory is a theory that explains our observations and experiments and, most imporantly, is open for falsification.
This means that it could be proven wrong.
As an example consider the laws of Newton in mechanics. They can perfectly explain the movement and interaction of all objects. However Einstein proved this theory to be wrong when the speed of the objects nears that of light speed.
So he stated a new scientific theory that is not proven wrong (yet).
2006-12-06 00:41:09 · answer #1 · answered by anton3s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty much any simplified view of the world with testable predictions. What this means is that for a theory to be scientific you must be able to prove it wrong. All theories are wrong because they are abstractions from reality but some are less wrong than others. The best, most testable theory is quantum mechanics. Jung's view that dreams are the means by which the unconscious tries to tell us that our conscious life is veering to an extreme is not a testable theory because there is no way to know even if something called the unscious exists or to attribute one meaning to a dream and correlate this with an outcome for the subject. Scientists are also leery of complicate reformulations of simple theories that add no new testable implications. String theory falls into this dubious category.
2006-12-06 08:50:04 · answer #2 · answered by Gibaudrac D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A scientific theory is the most important tool for scientists. Theories are broad topics and include facts and laws - the theory of gravity includes Newton's laws, Kepler's laws, the fact that g at the surface of the Earth is 9.8 m/s^2, the laws of orbital motion, etc. A theory is not 'elevated' to a fact, it transcends facts. It's more than just one thing. Theories contain many facts (evolutionary theory contains facts about the fossil record, genetic heritage, etc) but also can be potentially falsified through futher evidence. Any scientific theory is potentially fasifiable, which is one of the many reasons that creationism and intelligent design are not acceptable scientific theories.
2006-12-06 12:57:21 · answer #3 · answered by eri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a guess
2006-12-06 08:41:45 · answer #4 · answered by practicalwizard 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋