scientific theories
Evidence-based explanatory frameworks
Scientific theories are comprehensive explanations for natural phenomena, supported by extensive evidence and testing.
Unlike the casual sense of "theory" meaning a guess or hunch, scientific theories represent well-substantiated frameworks: the theory of evolution, germ theory, the theory of relativity.
A scientific theory unifies many observations under explanatory principles and makes testable predictions.
Theories can be refined but are never "proven" in an absolute sense—they remain open to revision as new evidence emerges.
- axiomsAccepted starting principles
- hypothesesProposed explanations to test
- null hypothesisAssumed no relationship exists
- Darwinian evolutionSpecies change through selection
- falsifiabilitySusceptibility to disproof
paradigms · peer review · Newtonian mechanics · models · thought experiment · heliocentric model · observation · empirical evidence · laws · predictions · quantum mechanics · experimentation · verification · reproducibility · validation · logical consistency · uncertainty · causality
scientific theoriessuperstitions
Unfounded beliefs about luck
pseudoscience · old wives' tales · folk beliefs · myths · religious dogma
scientific theoriesdivine revelation
Deity communicates to humanity
intuition · received wisdom · tradition · gut feelings · mystical insight
scientific theoriessuperstition
Baseless belief in omens
wild guesses · pseudoscience · old wives' tales · hunches · idle speculation
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