You know, I still think a lot of this comes down to the fact that most lay people do not use the word theory in the same way and with the same definition as the scientific community does. I think there needs to be more effort to make sure that everyone is actually speaking the same language. I see the word theory misused all the time on TV (even on the news), in movies, in politics, etc. To most lay people the word theory means a conjecture, a guess. The definition of theory for most lay people I have personally known means no more than " a guess." The definition doesn't even approach the meaning of the word hypothesis, let alone the true meaning of the word theory. I think if people were more educated about the true meaning of the words "hypothesis" and "theory" there might be a lot less argument about evolution vs. ID/creationism being taught - sjordanmom. My e-mail actually meant to reply to this. Excellent point.