History UsefulNotes / Theorum

* CloudCuckoolander (An unique perspective on any theorum goes a long way to show that this character lives in his own little world.)

"Theorum" is a word invented by UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins in his 2010 book ''The Greatest Show On Earth'' as a synonym for "scientific theory," to differentiate "theory" from its usage as a synonym for "hypothesis." [[note]]This differs from the much older world "theorem" which means, essentially, the same thing. Dawkins pronounces his word the-or-um (rhymes with decorum).[[/note]]

"Theorum" is a word invented by RichardDawkins in his 2010 book ''The Greatest Show On Earth'' as a synonym for "scientific theory," to differentiate "theory" from its usage as a synonym for "hypothesis." [[note]]This differs from the much older world "theorem" which means, essentially, the same thing. Dawkins pronounces his word the-or-um (rhymes with decorum).[[/note]]

"Theorum" is a word invented by RichardDawkins in his 2010 book TheGreatestShowOnEarth as a synonym for "scientific theory," to differentiate "theory" from its usage as a synonym for "hypothesis." [[note]]This differs from the much older world "theorem" which means, essentially, the same thing. Dawkins pronounces his word the-or-um (rhymes with decorum).[[/note]]

"Theorum" is a word invented by RichardDawkins in his 2010 book TheGreatestShowOnEarth as a synonym for "scientific theory," to differentiate "theory" from its usage as a synonym for "hypothesis." [[note]]This differs from the much older world "theorem" which means, essentially the same thing. Dawkins pronounces his word the-or-um (rhymes with decorum).[[/note]]

"Theorum" is a word invented by RichardDawkins in his 2010 book TheGreatestShowOnEarth as a synonym for "scientific theory," to differentiate "theory" from its usage as a synonym for "hypothesis."

Four classic theorums are Gravity, Evolution, Heliocentrism (in the sense that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice versa, not in the sense that the Sun is the center of the universe) and Round Earth (in the sense that the Earth is not flat, not in the TerryPratchett sense that the world is flat but indeed round rather than [[http://www.rogermwilcox.com/square_earth.html square]]).

The word theorum was coined in 2009, for the purpose of distinguishing between different kinds of theories. The thing is that the word "theory" can be used in three very different ways.

Discarding a theory is only reasonable when the research supporting it gets replaced with more accurate research. Thus, it doesn't take much to overthrow a wild guess. Any scrap of evidence is enough, and without evidence, any other wild guess is equally valid anyway. Overthrowing a regular scientific theory is more complicated, but might still be easy: Simply make a better theory and gather better evidence. Overthrowing a theorum, however, well.... In fiction, the ''easiest'' way to do that is usually to prove that reality itself is a conspiracy or that the entire mainstream scientific community is in on the same AncientConspiracy. While it does happen that a theorum gets disproven and eventually put on history's discard pile in RealLife, this is very rare and usually means a huge paradigm shift, such as when our civilization abandoned the geocentric worldview in favor of the heliocentric.

* StrawLoser (What better way to give a character a total lack of credibility than to let him believe that the earth is flat or whatever?)

Discarding a theory is only reasonable when the research supporting it gets replaced with more accurate research. Thus, it doesn't take much to overthrow a wild guess. Any scrap of evidence is enough, and without evidence, any other wild guess is equally valid anyway. Overthrowing a regular scientific theory is more complicated, but might still be easy: Simply make a better theory and gather better evidence. Overthrowing a theorum, however, well.... In fiction, the ''easiest'' way to do that is usually to prove that reality itself is a conspiracy or that the entire mainstream scientific community is in on the same AncientConspiracy. While it does happen that a theorum gets disproven and eventually put on history's discard pile in RealLife, this is very rare and usually means a huge paradigm shift. Such as when our civilization abandoned the geocentric worldview in favor of the heliocentric.

"Theorum" is a word coined by RichardDawkins for a middle ground between "theorem" and "theory".

"Theorum" is a middle ground between "theorem" and "theory".

* Finally, we have the theorums, which gets expanded over time rather than replaced. A lot has happened since the days of Newton, and many different theories regarding gravity have come and gone. But this doesn't mean that gravity itself is outdated: No, on the contrary, it gets stronger with each new calibration.

* We have the scientific term "theory", which require actual research and a good argument for why the theory is valid. However, these theories come and go and regularly replace each other as new-and-improved theories turn out to be better than the old ones.

Discarding a theory is only reasonable when the research that supports it gets replaced with more accurate research. Thus it doesn't take much to overthrow a wild guess. Any scrap of evidence is enough, and without evidence either any other wild guess is equally valid anyway. Overthrowing a regular scientific theory is more complicated, but might still be easy: Simply takes making a better theory and gather better evidence. Overthrowing a theorum, however, well... In fiction, the ''easiest'' way to do that is usually to prove that reality itself is a conspiracy or that the entire mainstream scientific community is in on the same AncientConspiracy. While it does happen that a theorum gets disproven and eventually put on history's discard pile in RealLife, this is very rare and usually means a huge paradigm shift. Such as when our civilization abandoned the geocentric worldview in favor of the heliocentric.

Four classic theorums are Gravity, Evolution, Heliocentrism (in the sense that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice versa, not in the sense that the Sun is the center of the universe) and Round Earth (in the sense that the Earth is not flat, not in the TerryPratchett sense that the world is flat but indeed round rather than square).

Discarding a theory is only reasonable when the research that supports it gets replaced with more accurate research. Thus it doesn't take much to overthrow a wild guess. Any scrap of evidence is enough, and without evidence either any other wild guess is equally valid anyway. Overthrowing a regular scientific theory is more complicated, but might still be easy: Simply takes making a better theory and gather better evidence. Overthrowing a theorum, however, well... In fiction, the ''easiest'' way to do that is usually to prove that reality itself is a conspiracy or that the entire mainstream scientific community is in on the same AncientConspiracy. While it does happen that a theorum gets disproven and eventually put on history's discard pile in RealLife, this is very rare and usually mean a huge paradigm shift. Such as when our civilization abandoned the geocentric worldview in favor of the heliocentric.

* Finally, we have the theorums, which gets expanded over time rather then replaced. A lot has happened since the days of Newton, and many different theories regarding gravity have come and gone. But this doesn't mean that gravity itself is outdated: No, on the contrary, it gets stronger with each new calibration.

Four classic theorums are Gravity, Evolution, Heliocentrism (in the sense that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather then vice versa, not in the sense that the Sun is the center of the universe) and Round Earth (in the sense that the Earth is not flat, not in the TerryPratchett sense that the world is flat but indeed round rather then square).

* We have the scientific term "theory", which require actual research and a good argument for why the theory is valid. However, these theories come and go and regularly replace each other as new-and-improved theories turn out to be better then the old ones.

In fiction, theorums are generally much more fun to mess around with then general theories are. A character dismissing string theory is boring and pointless unless you are making a highly specialized science-nerd joke or similar. A character dismissing gravity ''as such'', now that's much more interesting!

* CloudCuckoolander (An unique perspective on any theorum goes a long way to show that this character live in his own little world.)

* GravityIsOnlyATheory (primarily gravity, secondarily any theorum other then evolution - some of the examples are ''indirectly'' about evolution, however.)

* StrawLoser (What better way to give a character a total lack of credibility then to let him believe that the earth is flat or whatever?)