Contrary to popular belief, when scientists use the word "theory", they are not referring to conjectures that they have pulled out of thin air and have no data to support such claims. The scientific use of the word "theory" is much different than the colloquial use.
In science, a theory refers to an integrated set of principles that explain and predict events that are observed in the natural world. Theories, in the scientific sense, summarize and explain facts, and imply testable predictions that allow for the falsification of the theory. Theory is vital to scientific endeavour, as it generates hypotheses to be tested, gives direction to research (and even suggests new areas for research), and, if the theory is good, has a high amount of explanatory power without requiring extensive modification to the theory. Theory without data is just conjecture, but data without a theoretical explanation is as good as meaningless to scientific practice.
In science, a theory refers to an integrated set of principles that explain and predict events that are observed in the natural world. Theories, in the scientific sense, summarize and explain facts, and imply testable predictions that allow for the falsification of the theory. Theory is vital to scientific endeavour, as it generates hypotheses to be tested, gives direction to research (and even suggests new areas for research), and, if the theory is good, has a high amount of explanatory power without requiring extensive modification to the theory. Theory without data is just conjecture, but data without a theoretical explanation is as good as meaningless to scientific practice.
An example of a scientific theory that is often mistaken as just a "theory" is the theory of evolution. Contrary to common misconceptions, evolutionary biology is one of the most prolific fields in science, with hundreds of thousands of peer-reviewed papers attesting to the theory's veracity, and an ever-increasing body of research.
Other examples include general relativity (yes, gravity is technically "only" a theory), special relativity, atomic theory (yes, atoms are "only" a theory too), and germ theory (the theory that small microscopic organisms are the cause of many illnesses).
Other examples include general relativity (yes, gravity is technically "only" a theory), special relativity, atomic theory (yes, atoms are "only" a theory too), and germ theory (the theory that small microscopic organisms are the cause of many illnesses).
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Get the scientific theory mug.by t-dubya April 25, 2006
Get the scientific theory mug.Theories about the nature and practice of science itself, rather than theories within a scientific discipline. These are frameworks that attempt to explain how science progresses, what constitutes scientific knowledge, and why paradigms change. Examples include Thomas Kuhn's theory of "paradigm shifts," Karl Popper's "falsificationism," and the "research programmes" of Imre Lakatos. They are the rulebooks and strategy guides written by philosophers and historians analyzing the game of science from the sidelines.
Meta-Scientific Theories Example: Arguing that the transition from Newtonian physics to Einsteinian relativity wasn't just new data, but a total "paradigm shift" where the old rules and questions became obsolete, is applying a Meta-Scientific Theory (Kuhn's) to explain scientific history. It’s a story about science, not a story from science.
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Get the Meta-Scientific Theories mug.Broad, overarching theoretical frameworks within a scientific discipline that attempt to unify and explain a vast array of lower-level theories and phenomena. They are the grand, unifying narratives of a field. Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is a scientific meta-theory for biology. The Standard Model is one for particle physics. These are the highest-order scientific explanations we have, providing the foundational context for all other research in their domain.
Scientific Meta-Theories Example: The Modern Synthesis in evolutionary biology, which combines Darwinian selection with Mendelian genetics and population genetics, is a Scientific Meta-Theory. It doesn't just explain one fossil or trait; it provides the core, organizing narrative that makes sense of all diversity of life, guiding every experiment in the field.
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Get the Scientific Meta-Theories mug.Directly derived from Thomas Kuhn's work, this is the theory that scientific fields don't progress smoothly, but are periodically overturned by revolutionary shifts in their foundational worldview, or "paradigm." A paradigm is the constellation of beliefs, values, and techniques shared by a scientific community. "Normal science" works within it; a "crisis" occurs when anomalies pile up; a "revolution" installs a new paradigm. Truth is, to a large degree, paradigm-relative.
Example: The Copernican Revolution that replaced the Earth-centered (Ptolemaic) universe with a Sun-centered one is the classic case of Scientific Paradigm Theory. It wasn't just a new fact; it required throwing out Aristotelian physics, redefining humanity's place in the cosmos, and forcing a complete rebuild of astronomy from new first principles.
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Get the Scientific Paradigm Theory mug.A framework that seeks to understand and classify the different types of scientific paradigms themselves. It's a paradigm about paradigms. For instance, it might categorize paradigms as reductionist vs. holistic, deterministic vs. probabilistic, or mechanistic vs. vitalistic. It asks: What are the meta-categories that all scientific worldviews fall into? This is a bird's-eye view of the landscape of possible scientific thought.
Scientific Metaparadigm Theory Example: Seeing Darwinian evolution (contingent, historical) and Newtonian physics (deterministic, law-based) as belonging to two different Metaparadigms—one focused on narrative and history, the other on timeless laws—is an act of Scientific Metaparadigm Theory. It helps explain why these fields have such different cultures and standards of proof.
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Get the Scientific Metaparadigm Theory mug.The application of these concepts as meta-critiques of the scientific process itself. It suggests that science, in its quest for laws, can sometimes be an institutionalized, refined form of these biases. Scientists may perceive elegant, universal patterns (a "face" in the data) where there is only local noise or complexity, clinging to a beautiful theory long after contradictory anomalies appear, driven by the same deep-seated craving for order.
Scientific Apophenia/Pareidolia Theory Example: Scientific Pareidolia Theory might analyze String Theory. It posits that physicists, staring at the fuzzy data of quantum gravity, have used immensely complex math to perceive a "face" of elegant, vibrating strings in 11 dimensions. The theory's beauty and internal consistency are compelling, but its untestability makes it, in this critical view, the most sophisticated pareidolia in human history—a pattern seen in the clouds of higher mathematics because the mind desperately wants one to be there.
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