In philosophy, this is the problem of induction. While a scientific theory such as Isaac Newton’s theory of gravitation makes an infinite number of predictions, it can only be verified by a finite number of observations, so it can never be seen as irrefutably correct. Even when a theory is accepted as fact, it remains a theory. A theory can be tested and shown to be accurate or modified as the evidence requires. It is a set of propositions that seek to explain a particular phenomenon or set of facts. This question misunderstands what a theory is in the same way that creationists dismiss evolution as “just a theory”.Ī theory isn’t speculation about what might be true. Discovery of facts that don’t fit the theory will lead to the search for a new theory. The “truth” of a theory is determined by its usefulness in linking the largest number of facts and predicting new ones that haven’t been observed yet. It is always an interpretive structure that links facts, which are themselves reproducible experimental observations. Many scientists, including the late Stephen Hawking, are happy to say that a theory never becomes a fact. It never evolves to a fact, and that’s a fact. A well-supported evidence-based theory becomes acceptable until disproved.
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