Do you know anyone who doesn't understand the difference between a fact and a theory?

originally posted by: CryHavoc
Wow.

Almost every response had a different idea of fact and theory.

And there's the difference between what scientists (and mathematicians, etc) mean and common usage. Common usage is all over the map.

There's a difference between a fact and a theory. The theory is the way we explain why something happens and the fact is what actually happened.You can have a fact that doesn't have an explanation. Here are the reviews of topresume that you can read. All the theories in the world don't matter because you can still prove that someone did something no matter what their theory is. You can just ask them to do it again!

originally posted by: CryHavoc
It's astounding that some people don't know the difference between a fact and a theory.

A fact is something that's been proven.

Whereas a theory is just something that someone came up with to try to explain what they've experienced. Theories don't have to true and can be proven wrong.

A little Education here as too many people don't understand the difference.

Have you found people that confuses the two?

How about a scientific theory? The use of just theory is more inline with a hypothesis, just the poor's man way of saying it.

THEORY: Safe and Effective

FACT: Unsafe and Ineffective

a reply to: Dalamax

YES! Too many theories are considered fact because they have the backing of dead 'smart' people. It's amazing how many follow DSP.

a reply to: Xtrozero

It's sad how the word 'proven' is no longer anything other than a word. In order for something to actually BE proven, there needs to be evidence that can be verified.

Being accepted as true or posted in 2000 different books is not the criterion.

a reply to: Byrd

I really hate myself for this post. Because I have to confess. The earth is not a spinning ball. Heliocentrism is an unproven mess of unproven, unprovable theories.

That does not make anyone's flat earth theory a fact. But I DO know that the high school physics that have controlled every step I have taken in my 77 years makes the spinning ball earth pure giggle food.