"'I am taking what you have told me, and what is in this book, and what I have seen and heard, and making an imagining from them.'
"'A hypothesis,' I said, 'That is what Windlow called it. A hypothesis; an imagining which might be true.'" - "The True Game: Wizard's Eleven", Sheri S. Tepper
How often have you heard an idea is "only a theory", for example, evolution? Often others retort that gravity is only a theory, but don't walk off a cliff.
All of us should learn to use each word in its proper context. A hypothesis is an idea that has some basis in facts, but not enough facts are known yet. A theory is an idea that has a preponderance of facts to substantiate it. The "four corners of the earth" was a hypothesis based on limited geographical knowledge. A round earth is a theory based on so much evidence that few of us question whether the earth is round or not.
How many of us are going to use "hypothesis" instead of "theory"? My hypothesis is that few of us, including me, are going to use these words properly.
