I come from a biological science background -........................ on theories and models with practically zero hard evidence, what does this tell you about the probability that what they are saying is inaccurate?
I call BS. For one, if you came from a "hard science background" you'd understand the difference between the dictionary definition of Theory and Scientific Theory. They are two completely different things. That's why if someone says "Evolution is just a theory" you can laugh your ... off at them. To be fair, nobody else has made the distinction in the
thread either.
A theory, in the
scientific sense of the word, is an analytic structure designed to
explain a set of
empirical observations. A scientific theory does two things:
- it identifies this set of distinct observations as a class of phenomena, and
- makes assertions about the underlying reality that brings about or affects this class.
In the scientific or empirical tradition, the term "theory" is reserved for ideas which meet baseline requirements about the kinds of empirical observations made, the methods of classification used, and the
consistency of the theory in its application among members of the class to which it pertains. These requirements vary across different scientific fields of
knowledge, but in general theories are expected to be functional and
parsimonious: i.e. a theory should be the simplest possible tool that can be used to effectively address the given class of phenomena.