Atheists, Agnostics, FreeThinkers, Humanists: Define Scientific Theory?

Question

What is a Scientific Theory? Is it something that is continously worked on until proven? Or is it something that can be dismissed because it holds no validity? Explain it to me in your own words. Don't worry I have a followup question planned for a different group next. There's a reason to my madness believe me when I tell you this.

I must say that so far I am impressed with some of the answers. I hope that you guys can keep it up.

Answer 1

in my own words
i would say a theory is when evidence has been presented that is suggestive of something
a theory is not built upon guess work , but a series of facts leading to a bigger picture
kind of like a jigsaw puzzle with a piece missing ...
we can assume what the whole picture is due to the surrounding pieces

Answer 2

A scientific theory is an explanation for a complex phenomenon. There are certain theories which represent the current most consistent explanation for all the observations related to that phenomenon. Good scientific theories are ones which are useful, both in explaining what has happened and in making predictions about what might happen.

If a theory has no usefulness, it is not very interesting to scientists.

Sometimes things that are tagged as being "theories" are either new concepts that have not been thorougly studied yet but a theory can also be a very well established idea but is so complex that it still has lots of details to be worked out. The theory provides a way to test new hypotheses to see if they fit into other parts of the theory or if they require a change in the way that part of the theory is thought of.

Sometimes, a theory can be rejected outright. At one time, learned people thought that life could spontaneously generate out of non-living material - such as water will suddenly create slimey lifeforms that will make the water foulsmelling in a short while. This idea was rejected after some cleaver experiments showed that the smelly things in water came from other small amounts of the slimey materia that was too small to see. If you boiled the water and put it in a bottle with a very long and curved neck it would not get slimey and spoil. (Some of these bottles which were made by Louis Pasteur are still sitting in a laboratory, clear as the day he made them 150 years ago.)

I hope that is helpful.

Answer 3

A scientific theory is a “model” whose imaginary properties you can test against the real world; insofar as they correspond, you’ve got yourself a good theory. Since scientists make no presumption of omniscience, a theory can never be considered infallible – you can never rule out the possibility of the real world presenting you with data that fails to jibe with your model, regardless of how much corroborating data you’ve already accumulated. This is science’s safeguard against dogmatism – its strength, NOT its weakness!

"Truth," in the scientific sense, is really a matter of "fitness." No test or experiment can ever "prove" a scientific theory, although a single negative result is enough to disprove it. The sun has risen every day in recorded memory; but that's doesn’t "prove" that it will rise tomorrow, as Hume famously pointed out. But the theory that the sun rises every day remains a valid theory until the day arrives when the sun does NOT rise. Every scientific statement is conditional. This is what is really meant by the rather provocative-sounding assertion that "all scientific theories will eventually be disproved." We’re always "wrong in the first place," and it’s impossible from the very nature of the case for us to ever be completely “right,” but the progress of science is towards more fitting, convenient, useful, and interesting - if not "truer" - modes of conception.

Since this is the "R&S" category, I'll just add that religious "Truth" with a capital "T" is something else altogether, and is only confused with scientific "truth" be people who know absolutely nothing of either. Hence such intellectually and spiritually revolting absurdities as "Young Earth" and "Intelligent Design."

Answer 4

A scientific theory is an explanation of some part of the world that is based on and supported by evidence. A widely held scientific theory, while often likely a fact, is still just the best explanation we have at the moment. Theories are constantly scrutinized, adapted, amended, and corrected as new information and evidence is discovered.

Because a scientific theory is based on observed evidence, it cannot be dismissed out of hand, but other evidence must be found to refute it.

To use the example you will certainly allude to, the Theory of (macro) Evolution is based on observed (micro) evolution as well as evidence such as fossils. It is the best explanation we have at the moment for the fossil record and the development of so many diverse species. The theory is constantly being tweaked and corrected as new information comes in.

Answer 5

Lots of great answers. I'll give an example, as I understand it:

The 'Germ Theory of Disease' proposes that micro-organisms are the cause of many diseases. This theory was highly controversial when first proposed but it is now universally accepted by biologists that micro-organisms do indeed cause disease. The theory is supported by evidence, such as the observation that penicillin kills bacteria in culture, and when taken by someone suffering from specific diseases, the patient has a much greater chance of recovering than an untreated patient. This sounds obvious now, but it wasn't always so - people used to think that the idea of micro-organisms causing disease was nonsense.

So, no-one today doubts that germs cause disease but nevertheless the 'Germ Theory of Disease' is still a theory - it is a proposition (or a set of propositions) which seeks to explain an aspect of the natural world and it is consistent with observable facts.

Hope this helps...

Answer 6

A scientific theory HAS been proven but is still being worked on because new facts are always being sought and found in relation to that theory. It has a completely different meaning from just a theory like "I have a theory about how OJ did it".

Answer 7

In science, a theory is a mathematical description, a logical explanation, a verified hypothesis, or a proven model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the current theory of gravitation.

Answer 8

My words and the dictionary's words are the same.

"a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"

Theory: a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.

Scientific Method : a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.

and, for good measure:

Hypothesis: a proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide investigation (working hypothesis) or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts.

"a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"

Answer 9

I think a scientific theory is something that was a hypothesis and then there was some evidence to back that hypothesis in the real world and it has to be predictable with results.

Like Gravity, I propose when I let go of my pen it will drop. This result you can repeat in your home or office, it drops.

The mechanism of how gravity works hasn't been scientifically explained, if it did, perhaps it would be a law.

Answer 10

I've done this so many times I just C&P

In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them.

In science, a theory is a mathematical description, a logical explanation, a verified hypothesis, or a proven model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation.

Answer 11

A scientific Theory is an idea that has been tested and, although it cannot be proven, all available evidence suggests it's validity. It is should not be dismissed unless evidence to the contrary is discovered.