this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
627 points (96.9% liked)

Science Memes

10970 readers
2465 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 55 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

The word theory has become (or at best is becoming) a clusterfuck of whatever, much like the word literally.

And we don't even have (normal/easy/exact) replacements for those words.
Those words were already the scientific terms for nerds. But normies normied them into normedom, literally theorised into a fuck.

(Also unfortunately Im a normie, but that doesn't mean I can't bitch about it)

[–] Zwiebel@feddit.org 24 points 3 months ago (4 children)

I like the word "model", I think it's a better fit even. We're modeling reality. Some models turn out to be shit, while others are well tested giving confidence that they mimic reality well.

[–] Ranger@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 months ago

But isn't model used differently in different disciplines?

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

~~Some~~ Most models turn out to be shit

Ftfy

[–] lostme@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

All models are shit. Some of them are useful tho

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Like my model of fecal matter.

[–] Malgas@beehaw.org 6 points 3 months ago

Every model is wrong. Some are useful.

Yeah I like that.

I use "theory" for theoretical things, like theoretical physics and math, that can be proven (in a mathematical way).

I use the word "model" for practical things, like practical physics. Models don't need to be proven, but their accuracy can be more or less helpful, depending on the context.

[–] kaffiene@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Yes I agree entirely.

[–] kaffiene@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

The word predates science