After watching an embarrassing clip of the Muslim apologist "Dr" Zakir Naik, where he gets a good question but he just dismissed it buy claiming that the student who asked the question didn't know basic English languish regarding "theory" and that theory is not a "law".
Of course, Naik was using the common language version of that a theory is, a classic misunderstanding of apologists.
I'm attempting to get a clear understanding of the terms and the differences between them, to distill it down to a short but clear way to effectively explain it to others.
Note that I'm not suggesting any of this is the "ultimate" truth, instead it represents my current understanding of the terms. The point here is to get suggestions, critique, etc, to improve the explanations below, and/or suggestions on how to phrase it to spread the understanding better.
1 --- In the context of common language ---
The word "theory" means:
- A proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural.
The word "hypothesis" means:
I don't see much difference towards the word "theory". Is this word is even used in common language?
2 --- In the context of science ---
The word "theory" means:
- A well substantiated explanation, usually corroborated by vast bodies of converging evidence. Acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation. Scientific theories are the most reliable, rigorous and comprehensive form of scientific knowledge.
The word "hypothesis" means:
- A proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
3 --- The difference between scientific theory and scientific law ---
A common misunderstanding is that a scientific theory is a step on the way of becoming a scientific law. No one of these ever become the other.
A scientific law is a repeatedly observed phenomena in nature that often can be described by mathematical models. They are merely descriptions of the observed phenomenon, not an attempt at an explanation of why a series of observations reliably occur.
A scientific law can describe for example a certain force and what its effects will be, while a scientific theory will offer an explanation for the existence of that force.
TL;DR
I'm attempting to get an clear understanding of the terms "hypothesis", "theory" and "law", and the differences between them, with the purpose to be able to briefly but clearly explain it to others.
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