Spoilers: Theory is not what you may think. Really, what you think the definition is for the word theory is actually closer to the definition for the word hypothesis.
I've heard people utilize the word "theory" as if they think it means "a random thought which popped into ones head for no reason." As if these people honestly believe that a theory is on the same level as the statement "Woah, the platypus is proof that God is a toker bro." I assure you, this is definitely not the case. This concept of people saying "Just a Theory" has always bugged me, for as far back as I can remember. (I'm looking at you, MatPat.)
I will now try to get everybody to have a sense for what the word theory really means when applied to science.
Let me begin by defining what a scientific hypothesis means to those who develop science. The word hypothesis is a statement of rudimentary observation with no systematic testing or method of rigorous observation applied (from the text book "Environment 7th Edition" by Raven, Berg, and Hazzensahl). It is also a tentative explanation of a phenomenon until experiment can be performed to further refine understanding (from the text book Chemistry: The Central Science 11th Edition by Brown, LeMay Jr., Bursten, Murphey, and Woodward). Basically, a hypothesis is a statement of "That's curious; let's see if that's true."
Theory, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. In any scientific text book (including the three listed above), a theory is defined as a well established, much substantiated description of a system. There has to be a substantial amount of experiments and observations which has to be done in order for the theory to be legitimate, and those experiments and observations have to be performed by people who are not a part of those group who initially proposed the theory. The more groups who independently confirm observations which confirm the theory, the stronger ground the theory stands upon.
A theory comes after hypothesis in very much the same way a baked cake follows the ingredients still being in their separate farms about to go to manufacturers. Very much like the cake analogy, there is a considerable amount of work which needs to be done in order to turn a hypothesis into a full on theory. As described above, a group needs to run a set of experiments, and a number of groups have to independently confirm those experiments work as advertised. The more, groups the better.
This is why, when somebody says "just a theory", so many people are up in arms about the phrase. That phrase implies a level of incompetence which simply isn't there, and a level of pure philosophy which is insulting. There is too much work put in to developing the theory to be labeled as mere speculation and philosophy. So the next time you wish to degrade a scientific concept, please don't do it by labeling it "just" a theory. There's too much effort placed into making it an observable and confirm-able and predictable fact to be lumped in with the toker-philosophers quip.
A theory comes after hypothesis in very much the same way a baked cake follows the ingredients still being in their separate farms about to go to manufacturers. Very much like the cake analogy, there is a considerable amount of work which needs to be done in order to turn a hypothesis into a full on theory. As described above, a group needs to run a set of experiments, and a number of groups have to independently confirm those experiments work as advertised. The more, groups the better.
This is why, when somebody says "just a theory", so many people are up in arms about the phrase. That phrase implies a level of incompetence which simply isn't there, and a level of pure philosophy which is insulting. There is too much work put in to developing the theory to be labeled as mere speculation and philosophy. So the next time you wish to degrade a scientific concept, please don't do it by labeling it "just" a theory. There's too much effort placed into making it an observable and confirm-able and predictable fact to be lumped in with the toker-philosophers quip.
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