Tag Archives: scientific

The Facts About Theories

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Admin

By Adam D.A. Manning (@AdamManning)

“Evolution is just a theory”, we sometimes hear, disapprovingly muttered.

“Climate change, it’s just a theory”, it is said, as if that was enough to stop the flood of evidence about our changing climate.

Calling something “just a theory” is often used as an easy way to belittle science. Referring to theories in this way makes it sound … Read more

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Only a Theory?

Posted on April 11, 2014 by The Science-Minded Citizen

By Laurie Hatton (in collaboration with her local Brights Community Cluster)

Sherlock Holmes commonly stated to Watson, “I have a theory.” The word “theory” means that something is a guess or speculative idea. Right?  Well, yes it can. However, when a scientist uses the term theory, he or she means something totally different.  A scientific theory is an idea that has a lot of evidence … Read more

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Error and Uncertainty Lead to Confidence

Posted on March 30, 2013 by The Science-Minded Citizen

Article by Davis Jacobson

“Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the minds of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.”

–Brown and Williamson, 1969 (internal memorandum, found here)

It is often lamented that there are misunderstandings of scientific findings in the general public. There’s no … Read more

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