General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: No, racism and sexism don't "go both ways" [View all]tblue37
(65,682 posts)something quite different in science. In common speech a theory is just a combination of opinion and guess, not to be privileged over other theories, and in fact not even as rigorous as a hypothesis.
But in science, a theory is the closest possible approximation of truth at any given time because it accounts for all the evidence possessed at that time. A theory is revised when new evidence arises from experiments undertaken to deal with anomalous data as those data arise.
"Sexism" and "racism," like "theory," have both a rigorously delimited academic meaning and a much looser colloquial meaning. And as with "theory," when one side of the debate insists on using the definition that is NOT being used by the opposing side, no meaningful discussion can take place.
Of course, when two sides battle over defining the terms of the debate and each insists on interpreting all statements according to the definition explicitly rejected by the other side, discussion is usually not what is wanted.