7 ms·

"Two years after the eruption, they tested this theory." Has the science community just given up on the word hypothesis? It's not that complicated and in the U

• equestria 2y ago
  It wasn't a terribly useful distinction to begin with - especially in natural sciences where there is usually no definite proof, just various degrees of confidence. We had quite a few linguistic purity battles in tech, too. You never win and it's not particularly worthwhile to play that game.
  • arcbyte 2y ago
    We use words because they have meaning and we communicate ideas through them because we've built a shared understanding of that meaning. If we abondon meaning, we're abandoning reason. It's worth the fight.
    • amanaplanacanal 2y ago
      Language changes over time, and there is no way to make it stand still. It's just wasted energy.
      • thfuran 2y ago
        Sew their snow point inn treyeing two bee cleer ore korekt?
      • arcbyte 2y ago
        We put an enormous amount of work into teaching the correct meaning every day to humans of every age and it is not wasted energy. Don't shirk your duty to educate others.
  • cogman10 2y ago
    There is never definite proof. The difference between a hypothesis and a theory is that a hypothesis has no evidence to support it while a theory has at least some supporting evidence. An important part of science is that, given enough evidence, any theory can be overturned in favor of a better theory. Scientific theoretical models are just "This currently fits demonstrated evidence of reality the best". Some theories have mountains of evidence in support (evolution, gravity, the standard model, for example) that will necessarily need a huge amount of evidence to overturn. It is far more likely these theories will just be refined with further evidence rather than broken by new evidence. Part of the scientific model is the built-in assumption that any model or theory is at least a little incorrect. They are fuzzy generalities that are constantly being refined to hopefully more closely match reality.
    • cryptonector 2y ago
      Here's one dictionary's definition of hypothesis: "a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation." Here's one dictionary's definition of theory: "a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained." According to the dictionary you have it exactly backwards. A hypothesis requires some supporting evidence. A theory requires none. Though the dictionary won't reflect scientific definitions. I like these definitions, though we have to add verbiage about falsifiability to make them scientific. One can still refer to Newton's theory of gravity as a theory, and indeed one does even though it has been falsified. Well, I suppose one could say the same thing about "the flat earth hypothesis" -- there is no evidence supporting it, and one might still refer to it as a hypothesis because there might once have been evidence for it when people did not recognize the evidence for the Earth being round. So what is the difference between those words? Both are "suppositions". Both can be falsified. A theory must be falsifiable in order to be a scientific theory (the dictionary didn't say this, but this is a pillar of modern science). A theory is a "system of ideas", something much larger than a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a starting point for a theory.
      • PittleyDunkin 2y ago
  • thfuran 2y ago
    It's maybe the most important distinction in science.
• deleted 2y ago
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• lucaspfeifer 2y ago
  Yes, the distinction between theory and hypothesis can be important, but a distinction should also be made between popular science and rigorous peer-reviewed literature. Popular science is meant to be easy for the general reader to understand. Often that means using simpler words, as long as they are still accurate in a general way. In this case, I believe theory is an acceptable word to use. The MW dictionary, for the definition of 'theory', says 2a. "a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action" 3a. "a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation" Seems to me that the usage in the article fits either of these definitions well enough.
  • lupusreal 2y ago
    > Popular science is meant to be easy for the general reader to understand. Often that means using simpler words The point above, and I agree, is that the word 'hypothesis' is taught every year in public schools, from elementary school through highschool. Even dropouts should know it, and from what I've seen do know it. At a certain point we've got to stop pandering to morons. Or worse, pandering to what we assume is the level of morons but is actually substantially lower. I don't think the general public is perplexed by that word; anybody who thinks they are is probably underestimating the public. Even if the average Joe on the street isn't disciplined about using the word hypothesis vs theory, they still understand what the word means when they read it.
    • BobaFloutist 2y ago
      Even if I know (or can trivially decipher) the definition of a technical word, reading an article saturated with technical words takes more work than reading an article written in more common language. Articles that take more work to read are going to be read by fewer people, and the population of people that do read them is going to be biased to the well-educated. If you're trying to communicate to the general public something like "Gophers are actually good sometimes", you probably want that message to go beyond the well-educated.
  • earthboundkid 2y ago
    > The Greek theoria (θεωρία) meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from theorein (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from theoros (θεωρός) "spectator", from thea (θέα) "a view" + horan (ὁρᾶν) "to see". "Theory" should refer only to the beatific vision or its analogical precursors in temporal existence achieved through mystical union with the Uncreated Light!