A Question for the atheists on scientific fact?

Question

Am I correct that science is never fact, but remains a hypothesis that cannot be disproven?

How does a theory become scientific fact?

Do I understand correctly that many items that science states is factual is merely a widely accepted theory?

Doesn't that require faith that the theory is accurate?

There are some good explanations here. So you the voters decide, please.

Answer 1

A fact is an observation or a piece of data. It is a measurement or some evidence or the result of an experiment. For example, there are many observations of gravity and measurements of gravity. Every time an apple is dropped and it falls, an observation of gravity has been made. Gravity is measured every time something is weighed. So gravity can be described by scientists as a fact. This is because there is a collection of gravity observations that need to be explained. And observations are facts in scientific language.

Theories in science are different from facts. Scientific theories describe the coherent framework into which observable data fit. There have been many theories that attempt to explain the fact of gravity. That is, scientists ask what is gravity, and what causes it. They develop a model to explain gravity, a theory of gravity. Predictions can be made based on this theory. Many explanations of gravity that qualify as a Theory of Gravity have been proposed over the centuries: Aristotle's, Galileo's, Newton's, and now Einstein's. So gravity is also a theory. In science, current theory is the theory that has yet to be falsified, that is there have been no observations made which contradict it to this point and, indeed, every observation ever made either supports current theory or at least does not falsify it (see Karl Popper). In no case did gravity disappear when a new theory was created; instead, the explanation for gravity was refined and improved.

Answer 2

No, your understanding of the matter at hand is incorrect.

A hypothesis is nothing more than an observation of the world or an event at hand. For example, "smoking is bad for your health". Experiments are then crafted to either prove or disprove this hypothesis.

A theory is then formed when you try to explain what it is you've seen based on observation of the study at hand. So a theory based on the hypothesis, "smoking is bad for your health" could say something like, "toxic substances in cigarette smoke can cause respiratory illness in people such as emphysema and lung cancer".

As for fact, in science the term "fact" is reserved for things that we know, that have been proven and will be the same tomorrow or in 100 years. Things like the speed of light in a vacuum is constant is a fact. It will never change. However the layman usually has a different meaning of the word (same goes for theory) which is usually what trips people up.

It's like the fact that the Earth goes around the Sun is called "the theory of gravitation" and not the "fact of gravitation". We know this to be true and it is a fact that the Earth goes around the Sun, but the reason behind it is still called a theory.

Evolution is another hot topic as people say that since it's a theory, it's never been proven right. Well, it has been proven right but the mechanics behind it are still a bit of a mystery. We know that creatures evolve over time. This has been proven time and time again. What is the cause of these mutations is still unknown and that's the theory part. We believe that it's due to natural selection as Darwin himself said but there might be other reasons for this.

So a theory can be fact even if parts of it aren't completely understood.

Answer 3

There are such things as scientific facts. They are observations of things that occur. Pure water freezing at 0 Celcius is a fact. Things such as apples falling to Earth when dropped is a fact. That there is variation within the genetic make-up of a population of organisms is a fact.

However, facts alone are not all that useful scientifically. What is really useful is the scientific theory used to explain those facts.

There are some theories that have garnered so much evidence supporting their explanations, that are generally considered by all scientists as having been proven, but no, they are still not considered 'facts'.

Scientists try to avoid refering to these theories in this way, but in the case of some of the most strongly supported theories (i.e. gravity, relativity, chemical periodicity, evolution, stratigraphic corellation, germ propagation) they are often assumed to be true. This assumption carries over even farther into scientific journalism, and mainstream media accounts of science - which will sometimes give this 'factual' support even to theories which have little or no evidence supporting them ("Scientists find peanut butter cures cancer!", or "Scientists find peanut butter causes cancer!", and the next week "Eggs cause heart disease!" followed by "Eggs cure heart disease!").

It is not faith that determines the scientific accuracy of a theory, however, it is whether or not experimental and observational evidence supports the predictions of the theory or not. If the facts are not consistent with what the theoretical explanation of the facts say they should be, then the theory is rejected. That's not faith, that's simply the application of logic and reason to the interpretation of facts.

Answer 4

First I think you need to understand what a theory is in the scientific sense. A scientific theory is not a mere guess, faith is not involved.

In science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable 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.

Answer 5

No. A scientific fact can be proven. For example we can prove that when a man and woman have sex, if the conditions are right, she becomes pregnant. This is a fact.

We can prove smoking is bad for you. Another fact.

However-we cannot prove the existance of God or the Big Bang Theory: That's why it's called a theory.

It requires that evidence and the outcome of the testing of the evidence to prove that a theory is accurate and the results of testing will remain unchanged. .

See the difference?

Answer 6

Scientific theory is based on fact. Those facts can be acquired through observations, testing, experimentation,calculations etc. Those findings are a sometimes a result of the use of the best available means to date. When new technology is obtained/invented then this can allow for new data to be obtained. Science is the quest for truth based on fact.
All you need to understand this is common sense.

Answer 7

1st question: no.

2nd question: it has to be proven mathematically and/or logically.

3rd Q: Just because something CAN'T be proven doesn't mean it can't exist. It just means that it cannot have a rigorous proof.

4th Q: Gravity is a theory. it does not require faith to expect that if I drop an object near another object (ie: earth) that those two objects will be attracted to each other.

This is why a scientist will not ask for proof of god. However, your misunderstanding of science often leads non believers to prove that god does not exist.

LD

Answer 8

There are no facts in science as there are in mathematics but there are times when the evidence for a phenomenon, species evolution for example, is so compelling it becomes perverse to dispute that it is a fact. Technically it is still theoretical but in reality it is 99.9% proven fact based on the available evidence. It's a useful religionist ploy to churn out the "it's only a theory rhetoric" but it just doesn't bear up to logical scrutiny. It really just gives the impression that they're being totally disingenuous and lacking in intellectual honesty.

Answer 9

For a theory to be upgraded to law all parts would have to be knowable and observable. Some theories, at their premises, are fact. It does not take faith to acknowledge that evolution happens. What the theory of evolution is trying to conclude is the mechanisms by which it happens.

I don't know where you pulled out hypothesis from...

Answer 10

To me, (1)Theory = Belief, (2)Fact = Truth, and Faith in either of the first does not turn them into the second.