posted ago by SpaceGhost1984
+14 / -0
Christian Conservative: Evolution is just a theory
Liberal: You’re dumb if you don’t understand that a “theory” is a set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about the natural world.
Christian Conservative: The democrats stole the election.
Liberal: You’re dumb if you believe in conspiracy theories.
Christian Conservative: Evolution is just a theory
Liberal: You’re dumb if you don’t understand that a “theory” is a set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about the natural world.
Christian Conservative: The democrats stole the election.
Liberal: You’re dumb if you believe in conspiracy *theories*.
Yes, the meaning of the word in scientific and casual context is different.
It is different.
My point is that a conspiracy theory isn’t discountable just because it’s a “theory”.
Liberals (like past me) would argue this point when Christians would say evolution was “just a theory”.
These same liberals conveniently forget this whenever they address “conspiracy theorists” on the right.
You're right, it's not, but at the same time the usage of "theory" is different.
Why should it be different? Just because people misuse it? Or is it there some legitimate difference?
Because people misuse it, yes.
I think that’s were we should/can push back with people who are SO SUPER DUPER SMART and know we’re just dumb yokels.
Nailed it. And no, the word "theory" means EXACTLY the same thing in both contexts. A theory is very simply an idea for expressing possibility, for which facts can be gathered and assessed in order to reach a determination of high probability, low likelihood, or falsehood. A conspiracy theory collects data, scrutinizes feasibility and evidence of causal connections, in order to assess whether a coordinated effort has been involved to bring about a desired result---the legal definition of conspiracy is a meeting of minds. Conspiracy theorists analyze phenomenon and work backwards to determine agency (causes of effects). In scientific context, a theory follows the same trajectory, i.e., by examining evidence of phenomenon (fossil decay and deposit, cellular mutations, migration patterns, etc.), scientists work backwards to determine agency of evolution. (For the record, NeoDarwinian evolutionary theory, as taught, is bunk.)