Out of curiosity, would you please define the word "theory"?

Question

In your own words. Please don't look it up, use a dictionary, encyclopedia, the internet, etc. No cutting and pasting, just what you think it means.

Thanks!

Answer 1

As with many words in the English language, the word "theory" has different usages with different shades of meaning.

There is the colloquial usage that means "an unproven idea or guess." In science we never use this meaning. However, even in science there are at least two different usages. A theory is a framework that explain a set of facts. There are newly proposed theories which are not yet widely accepted. There are Theories (with a capital T) that are widely accepted because they have proven to be very powerful, not only for explaining previously observed facts, but for predicting outcomes of experiments that had not yet been performed. The most celebrated Theories are ones that make predictions that are counter-intuitive at the time, yet the predictions hold to be true. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Einstein's Theory of Relativity and his prediction that space is curved in the presence of strong gravitational fields, and that even light would follow a curved path due to space being curved.

For what it's worth, the Theory of Evolution falls in the latter category. It has made a wide range of predictions that have been shown to be true, some of them are still counter to the intuition of many people.

Answer 2

A theory is an opinion that is based on fact. A fact is that the grass is green. My theory could be because there are little men down on the ground that paints the grass green. It does not need to make sense, it only needs to explain why something is the way it is.

Answer 3

My theories are based upon my own experiences, and opinions and feelings.

Part of my theory is that I don't know everything about everything.

I am alive....which means that I am still experiencing new things and I realize that my current theories can and probably will change over time.

That's my theory on theories!! :)

Answer 4

This isn't really an opinion question - theory is the consensus of a person or group based on the knowledge they have up to that point

Answer 5

do you prefer the medical definition or the elementary definition? Edit: ok, then i might define a medical concept like this: 'a proof of or extrapolation from a sequence of empirical information that tries to describe purpose fact and can be used to make predictions concerning destiny, testable, effects.' it fairly is the main suitable i will do, besides. advantages :)

Answer 6

Off the top of my head?

A theory is man's best guess (after testing and research) of how to explain a certain phenomena.

Answer 7

Here are 2 :

1- Theory is derived from a set of un-provable beliefs

2- Cat is chasing its own tail

Take your pick

Cheers

Answer 8

A theory is a construct that has been hypothetically proven to be true or false.

Answer 9

An unsupported belief. In order for it to be a theory it has to be able to be tested. Saying "Superman is real" isnt a theory because there is no way to test that.

Answer 10

An idea that seems possible and rational, but has not been proven by scientific measurements.