File this under pet "peevs". The misuse of the the term "theory". Theory comes to us out of mathematics.
A theorem is a statement that can be demonstrated to be true by accepted mathematical operations and arguments. In general, a theorem is an embodiment of some general principle that makes it part of a larger theory. The process of showing a theorem to be correct is called a proof.
[mathworld.wolfram.com]
Origin
late th century (denoting a mental scheme of something to be done): via late Latin from Greek theōria ‘contemplation, speculation’, from theōros ‘spectator’.
[google.com]
In scientific reasoning, a hypothesis is an assumption made before any research has been completed for the sake of testing. A theory on the other hand is a principle set to explain phenomena already supported by data. Theories will pull together experimental results to provide full explanations such as "The Big Bang Theory."
In scientific reasoning, a hypothesis is constructed before any applicable research has been done. A theory, on the other hand, is supported by evidence: it's a principle formed as an attempt to explain things that have already been substantiated by data.
The distinction has come to the forefront particularly on occasions when the content of science curricula in schools has been challenged—notably, when a school board in Georgia put stickers on textbooks stating that evolution was "a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things." As Kenneth R. Miller, a cell biologist at Brown University, has said, a theory "doesn’t mean a hunch or a guess. A theory is a system of explanations that ties together a whole bunch of facts. It not only explains those facts, but predicts what you ought to find from other observations and experiments.”
While theories are never completely infallible, they form the basis of scientific reasoning because, as Miller said "to the best of our ability, we’ve tested them, and they’ve held up."
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Has anyone looked at the etymology of "theory"?
Non-scientists might have used it their way first.
I worked with people who on tests like the Graduate Record Exam scored very high on Math and average or worse on Verbal. I had the (mis)fortune to score in the mid-90s on both.
yvilletom
Level 8
Oct 18, 2020
0
Actually as part of the research I did look at what you are suggesting. I know behavioral scientists (especially psychologists, but what do expect from that group) use theory very loosely and IMO incorrectly. I have on more than one occasion argued with PhD academics about this usage.
I have a degree in the behavioral science fields (archaeology), and one in a harder science (geology). It was only when I was taking classes in the Educational Psycholigy did run into this misapplication. I agree with the physics that I ran into and conversed with on Physics Forum who agree with my definition. Words matter.
Why would it matter (especially to 'free/critical' thinker(s) who "used it their way first" ?
Words matter. Each term has a level of reliability and validity that it carries with it. Theory carries much more certainty and evidence than does hypothesis. It provides a standard for which to know how much credibility in which to treat the information.
Science is dynamic as part of its essential definition. So things change as technology allows for greater accuracy and precision. But the level of reliability does not.
As an aside, IMO General Law is an anachronism and is no longer relevant. It came from a time when Science was in its infancy and levels of confidence was needed to offer the level of knowledge and reliability.
I'm continually amazed at the regular MISUSE of the word on this website by folks who think of themselves as 'Critical Thinkers' 
FearlessFly
Level 9
Oct 18, 2020
1
I'm accustomed to seeing science fiction posted in the Academic Category.
@yvilletom Isn't actual evidence to the contrary always an option ?
@FearlessFly Do online publications such as sciencealert publish evidence? Or opinion?
Even the print Scientific American in 2019 and 2020 has published material for which no evidence has been found, such as dark matter. I counted about six such articles.
Searches on "most popular genres of fiction" put science fiction in the top two or three genres. So publications such as sciencealert are correct in publishing material for which no evidence has been found.
@yvilletom IMO, the term "dark matter" was 'coined' to refer to a phenomenon for which there is plenty of evidence, but no knowledge of its actual 'mechanism' -- roughly analogous to Isaac Newton and gravity.
Are there publication(s) that never get anything 'wrong' ?
Do you cite evidence to the contrary for published articles ?
The material I have says the term "dark matter" was coined by mathematicians for a term they added to their gravity-only equations to explain motion in the outer reaches of galaxies.
A gravity-only equation for the motion of planets in our solar system gives results accurate enough for use in studying the planets.
A gravity-only equation for motion in the outer reaches of galaxies does not account for the velocities there -- velocities high enough that the outermost galaxies would escape the central galaxy.
The term mathematicians added to their equations is not evidence. In 85 years of searching, no dark matter has been found.
@yvilletom I would contend that it is evidence of the phenomenon itself.
Are you actually saying the phenomenon is non-existent ?
@FearlessFly A term for dark matter is in the equations. The dark matter has not been found.
@yvilletom You didn't answer the question that I asked
Do you acknowledge that the (as yet inexplicable) phenomenon exists ?
Is this physics or philosophy? The hypothesized dark matter has not been found.
@yvilletom . . . again, you do not answer the question I asked.
SOMETHING is 'found'/noticed, no one (yet) knows what it is (regardless of what it is used to referred to it).
You can tell a lot about a person's education by the way they use the word "theory."
LucyLoohoo
Level 9
Oct 18, 2020
3
Is that your theory? 
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