Image Credit: Indian Country Media Network (2014) Image source
I often tell my students that the informal definition of "hypothesis" is "best-educated guess", and I feel that is quite justified. In science, a hypothesis a proposed explanation based on limited evidence and is intended as a starting point for further observation and testing. A hypothesis can be found wanting and discarded quickly or over a period of time, or it can be validated after a great deal of repeatable and verifiable observations made and data collected. In this latter case, it can be elevated by scientific consensus to a theory.
The word "theory" is used widely in daily language, but is often used incorrectly. The media is frequently guilty of this. In many cases, the speaker should use either "guess", "supposition", or "hypothesis" instead of "theory". In science, a theory is a tested and well-substantiated explanation for a set of verified observations. It takes rigorous and repeated testing for a hypothesis to be elevated to a theory.
A prime example of this issue may be found with the Bering Strait "theory", which may be more correctly considered a hypothesis. The Bering Strait hypothesis is at odds with much evidence, including the considerable and diverse oral histories of the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
Now available: The Bering Strait Theory by Alex Ewen. Available through Indian Country Today for $4.97 (digital) here: http://bit.ly/2tSsDTV
From the book's Forward:
An April 2017 study published in the journal Nature, which claimed archeologists had uncovered evidence that 130,000 years-ago humans butchered a mastodon in southern California, has upended the scientific community. The breakthrough is not whether the study’s conclusions are true or not, as that remains to be tested, but the fact that the study was published at all, and in a prestigious scientific journal, and that a reputable scientific institution, the San Diego Natural History Museum, would be willing to write and endorse a finding that is so completely at odds with prevailing scientific opinion.
For more than 100 years, it was simply impossible to challenge the scientific view that Ancient Indians crossed over from Asia before 15,000 years ago (or up until recently, 10,000 years ago), regardless of what the scientific evidence actually said. No scientist would risk their reputation and their academic standing to counter the prevailing view, nor would any reputable journal publish their findings even if someone was brave enough to speak out. In this eye-opening book, The Bering Strait Theory, historian Alexander Ewen (Purepecha) explores the roots of the ever-controversial Bering Strait Theory, but more importantly, the other theories, research, evidence and science that have evolved along with it, allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
