(November 21, 2014 at 12:25 am)Harry37 Wrote:(November 18, 2014 at 2:06 pm)dyresand Wrote: Let me just clear this up for our dumb theist friend here.I'm not sure where you get your definition of the word, "theory," from, certainly not the dictionary. "Theory" is defined as a hypothesis, speculation, assumption, premise, presumption, supposition, or guess; not any semblance of fact.
A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world.
That definition comes almost straight from the National Centre for Science Education and is exactly what the word means to people who use it in their work:
Quote: Theory: In science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.
It is a scientific term ; thus when applied in a scientific context, the scientific definition takes priority.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
