Dear Crossjim, you're right that a healthy dose of scepticism is handy through life.
But you appear to be throwing the word theory around without being aware of the difference between its specific meaning in science and a more general use of the word that is roughly synonymous with hypothesis or speculation.
When you know the difference - and I suggest it is worth boning up on it for the purposes of clarity and thinking - a greater understanding of the world and of science may follow. The precision of the language you use directly affects the comprehension of others about what you are trying to say.
The following is how Merriam-Webster defined the issue:
"However, there are two senses of
theory which are sometimes troublesome. These are the senses which are defined as “a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena” and “an unproven assumption; conjecture.” The second of these is occasionally misapplied in cases where the former is meant, as when a particular scientific theory is derided as "just a theory," implying that it is no more than
speculation or
conjecture. One may certainly disagree with scientists regarding their theories, but it is an inaccurate interpretation of language to regard their use of the word as implying a tentative hypothesis; the scientific use of
theory is quite different than the speculative use of the word."
Crossjim, with this in mind, would you be so kind as to point out the scientific theories that have turned out to be "BS". The Nobel committee will no doubt be keen to get their hands on this.
