Why is it so hard to understand what a theory is?

Summary

Marcelo Gleiser writing in Think Big makes the following points:

• In science, a theory is generally based on solid empirical evidence.
• Many people use the word to mean undetermined knowledge based chiefly on speculative thinking.
• In this context, “in theory” means something might not be correct.
• Even with the scientific community, there are different types of theories—one is the result of an accumulated body of knowledge, the other a speculative idea.
• A scientific hypothesis is an idea not yet empirically tested or vetted by the scientific community.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• CRITICAL THINKING 01: COLLECTION - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• APR 2013 Just a Theory": 7 Misused Science Words-Scientific American
• APR 2016 In Science, It’s Never ‘Just a Theory’-New York times

Source Information:

• Article Source: Big Think - Smarter, Faster
• Media Check:  Big Think- Media Bias/Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)/   
• RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)