Originally Posted by bluetick:
It appears you are the one who doesn't understand the word theory. Gravity is not a theory. It exists. It is provable.
blue, i must side with jimi on this small point. your usage of the term in this statement indicates a flaw in your thinking. you appear to grasp a major part of the definition of "theory" as used in common usage as compared to the a scientific sense but not quite all the way. in common usage, a "theory" is not much more than a wild guess. but a "scientific theory" is as close to a "fact" as one can be but (disagreeing with jimi) it is not a "fact" but is described by facts.
a scientific theory is made of many, many provable, falsifiable observations. when some of those observations are contradictory, you have a unproven hypothesis. when you have a series of observation that all point to the same conclusion, you have a scientific theory. so, yes, gravitational theory, special and general relativity theories, Theory of Electromagnetism, Theory of Radioactivity or Nuclear Theory, The Theory of Molecular Bonds and atomic theory, germ theory, quantum theory, plate tectonic theory and on and on are AL theories. yet they are also facts but are subject to change as evidence is compiled. .
disagreeing with "jimi": a theory is not a "fact." a fact is something observable that is not subject to change as evidence is presented. the theory of evolution could certainly be overturned based on some single new observation such as intelligent design. if that "hypothesis" were proven, it would turn evolution on it's head. so, from that standpoint evolution is a theory and not a immutable fact. but so is gravity.
the underlying frameworks of any theory, especially evolution, are certainly up for dispute. we do not know for a "fact" that evolution is driven by mainly selection or mainly mutation. we do no know for a fact that the dog evolved from a amphibian. but there are certainly some "facts" such as genetic markers and fossil evidence that certainly lead any reasonable person to conclude that, yes, dogs evolved from creatures that looked a lot like a large, toothed lizard.
so, from that standpoint, evolution, like gravity, certainly is a "fact." but the overall description is called a "theory."
some people will forever be unable to grasp this fine yet important distinction but i do not believe that describes either bluetick or jimi.