I'm putting an end to this for all the smitties, HyperGraphs, Locoweeds and mp_developers out there.



Transcript of the first 2:43 minutes into the video:

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You know the terms that we use in science are used very specifically in science as terms of art but they have very different meanings on the street and this is the source of a lot of confusion. When scientists talk about fact they're talking about confirmed observations and facts are interesting but they're not terrible exciting, they don't do a whole lot for you, facts are a dime a dozen there's facts all over the place.

A hypothesis is a testable statement. You're saying, what's the relationship between this and this and you go out and test it and you either accept or reject your statement or that relationship. Hypothesis are very useful they're very helpful, they help us build a theory. Theories are the most important things in science, theory to a scientist means explanation. These are logical constructs of facts, of tested hypothesis, of laws, of all kinds of stuff, that taken together and put in a logical descriptive fashion help us understand some kind of natural phenomenon.

Most lay people think that theories are guesses or hunches or something that you don't have to take terribly seriously it's not such a big deal.. completely opposite in science, theories are the most important things in science.

What a lot of unfortunate textbooks lead people to misunderstand is that a really good theory grows up into a law. As if theories are refined and then become laws and laws are somehow more important than theories. In science actually what a law is, is a descriptive generalization. So we talk about the laws of thermodynamics that tell you about heat under different circumstances. You hear about the laws, and study the laws of, heredity that Mendel developed. Because theories explain laws.

So in general the hierarchy of explanation is very different in science than in general public. The general public puts facts on top, laws next, hypothesis and then theories; maybe theories and hypothesis can move around a little bit. In science on the other hand, theories are the most important thing, laws are next most important, hypothesis are next most important and perhaps the least most important part of a scientific explanation is facts, because facts are a dime a dozen. And facts don't explain anything.
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I'd be glad if this would become a sticky for everyone to read, but I just wanted to post it here and reference it everytime it becomes needed, because everytime i post a link to this it becomes buried under some post and I have to do the explaining again and again and again..


Cheers,
Aris