DiscussMormonism.com

note: This post isn't about hashing over the LGT pros and cons. [unless of course you want it to be]. This post is about the naming of these ideas. What I say here could go along with any other "theory". I.E. Hollow Earth Theory, etc.

Obviously "theory" is thrown around in common usage to signify an opinion or speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts, in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them. I have no problem with this type of thing. Saying: "I have a theory" is the same as "I have a hypothesis" when it comes to someone's personal opinion.

The same cannot be said however for wide sweeping ideas or scenarios that can be tested with data. I've always wondered why these ideas or scenarios are automatically licensed "theories". When I was taking science classes an unproven idea was called an hypothesis. A theory was an idea or model that was capable of being tested through experiment. I think the LGT should definitely be labeled a scientific hypothesis, as it can be tested. If it's true then archaelogical evidence should someday prove it so. If it's false then no evidence will ever be found to support it. As it stands I think their isn't enough evidence to support it, so in my book it goes down as hypothesis.

What does the board think? Is "theory" unwarranted, or is it in the license of the idea's creator to label it whatever they want?

Its definately a theory, I personally like to classify it as a model. From wiki:

In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them.

In science, a theory is a proposed description, explanation, or 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.

Notoriuswun wrote:Its definately a theory, I personally like to classify it as a model. From wiki:

In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them.

In science, a theory is a proposed description, explanation, or 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.

Good point.

I guess the main disagreement in my mind is that "theory" gives a model or idea a certain amount of legitimacy that somethings certainly don't deserve (Hollow Earth Theory!). I wish scientists would be a little more discerning when labeling things or that there were more rigid guidelines for the labeling of ideas (meaning everything is initially an hypothesis, then gets upgraded when science supports something). That's just a pipedream though, as every scientist has different opinions on everything, including a certain piece of evidence.

ps. Love the dinosaur pic. That TV show rocked.

Bond

in my opinion, a theory is simply an educated guess as to how something works or behaves (that is not apparently understood). Sometimes it is a hypothesis or guess into something that will most likely never be known (ie LGT).

For example, I could propose a theory on why LGT is a piece of crap, and until my points are disproven, it will be called a theory.



ps did you used to post at FAIR?

Notoriuswun wrote:in my opinion, a theory is simply an educated guess as to how something works or behave (that is not apparently understood). Sometimes (like in this case) it is a hypothesis or guess into something that will most likely never be known.

For example, I could propose a theory on why LGT is a piece of crap, and until my points are disproven, it will be called a theory.



ps did you used to post at FAIR?

I guess that goes down to our definition of "theory". As with human nature, definitions can be very similar but just a bit off. It's just a word.

Never posted at FAIR, just a reader over there.

Bond