Shouldn't it Really Be a Conspiracy "Hypothesis"?

[1337m4n]

I've been wondering...In scientific terms, is there a difference between "theory" and "law"?

I mean, you never hear somebody utter the phrase "Newton's Theories of Motion".

 

[MetalliSociety]

Conspiracy Theory just sounds more "official" that Conspiracy Hypothesis. Just jumps off the tounge better.

 

[Anti-sophist]

I'd vote for conspiracy conjecture. That's what I call totally random guessing based on gut feeling with minimal effort to actually demonstrate even the consistency of my idea. I try to make sure my conjectures make some rational sense and could conceivably be true before I elevate them to hypotheses.

 

[qarnos]

And when creationists say that evolution is "only a theory," I remind them that everything we know about the structure of the atom is also only theory.

Steve S.

Gravity is my favorite example to use in that situation. For all out knowledge of gravity, we still can't reconcile it with quantum mechanics. Yet, no-one questions the existence of gravity. Evolution is on more solid theoretical understanding than gravity, or the structure of the atom.

With regards to the use of "Conspiracy Theory", it is just another example of the informal use of the word. I have no problem with this usage, just as long a people understand the different meaning of the word in different contexts, and I'm sure even the most staunch creationist would acknowledge that a Conspiracy Theory is not the same kind of theory as, say, Quantum Theory.

In short, I'm not losing any sleep over it.

 

[firecoins]

You should weigh some cative birds, if you can. That should give you some real data. Why did you change my bolding?

If a woman weighs as much as a duck...she's a witch! Burn Her!!!

 

[Apollo20]

In the phrase "conspiracy theory" surely the contentious word is "conspiracy" not the word "theory"!

I would argue that the idea many JREFers really object to is of a conspiracy orchestrated by more than, or a different group to, the 19 jihadists proposed by the "official" conspiracy theory. Thus the term "conspiracy theory" becomes ambiguous and should be avoided all together!