A Biology ? Which of the following has the LEAST general acceptance? ?

Question

a-Theory, b-Law, c-Hypothesis or d-Theory, law and hypothesis have equal acceptance?

Answer 1

i'm going with hypothesis, those are just something someone thinks and then is tested, not really a law or theory which has been repeatedly tested for many years

Answer 2

The answer is hypothesis for eactly the reason the guy above said

A hypothesis is what you think might happen - not yet tested

A theory has been tested and is generally accepted

A law has been so tested that it seems to be universal

Answer 3

hypothesis... just  an idea or a guess as to why something is the way it is. not concrete

Answer 4

In any branch of science:

Hypothesis-Least

Theory-Middle

Law-Most

Hypothesis has the least acceptance.  Hypothesis is possible cause or reason for something (you might have heard it called "an educated guess" and it's usually done prior to actual experimentation (after observing a problem/question)).  So in that way it's likely to have very little acceptance by the general community until it has some support.  Which brings us to...

People misuse the term 'theory'.  A computer problem might occur or something might be stolen and you'll hear somebody say "I've got a THEORY about what happened/whats wrong/etc."  But in reality they have a HYPOTHESIS.  An idea only becomes a theory after it's already *very* well supported and argued and gains that status as a  theory because of that...Eventually when a theory gains enough acceptance (it might need to be more refined or it might simply need more acknowledgement depending on the situation) it becomes a law...

A law is an explanation of some process, occurrence, behavior, etc that is so well supported or maintains such a high level of belief that it is taken as fact.

Important too, is that what distinguishes theory from law is in the eye of the beholder.  A great example from biology is evolution.  Most biologists would certainly consider it the LAW of evolution.  A devout believer in a religion like Christianity (it's important to note could be any religion or even a non-religious belief) may think of it as a theory, because they have beliefs that differ from evolution and are willing to hold a level of what to them is a reasonable cause NOT to believe evolution is correct.

9I am the type who would fall along the law of evolution line of thought, so I may be biased in these next few lines, but I will try to keep as neutral a point of view as possible.)

The Theory OR Law of Evolution gains its status, either way because it has been supported through concrete observations, facts, and knowledge of many people (particularly Charles Darwin).  To a creationist or any person who holds a belief different from evolution, those beliefs are strong enough and compelling enough to allow them to ignore or diminish support for evolution.

While the simple fact is that there IS for certain an answer and any existing 'Theory/Law' may be correct (or they might all be incorrect and there's an entirely separate explanation), the important part is that there is a personal spin or bias to the naming of a 'Theory/Law'.