Are theories invented or discovered?

ptolomeo

Physics theories are (maybe) rational constructs made by humans. One could think that theories
are inventions of the mind, in the sense that the theory is something that was not there before and now it is (of course theories can be reinvented, as many invented things have been, but that doesn't mean that they are discovered). Or we could think, on the other side, that theories are discovered, that is, they were there (?) before and we discovered them, in the same way we discover a gold mine.
Maybe, also, we could think that theories are not invented neither discovered. Theories, for evolutionists, should be a product of our evolution, because in evolution there is no place for creation (even human creation is not possible in evolution).

When I speak of theories, I mean the ideas and mathematical artifacts expressing that ideas. Not the physical fact per se.

What do you think?

tidruG

When you're talking about a theory, you're talking about an idea that has been put forth in order to explain some occurrence in nature or some phenomenon that hasn't previously been explained. In that way, I guess it fits the bill more as an invention rather than a discovery.

By definition, a discovery is something that already existed without our knowledge, and we just happened to stumble across it. No scientific theory has ever been completely accepted as the truth. A scientific theory is accepted on face value as an explanation either until a new experimental discovery/conclusion contradicts it (in which case, the theory must be modified or rejected altogether), or until an experimental conclusion verifies that theory, in which case the theory becomes strengthened.

Gagnar The Unruly

I agree. A theory is an invention and not a discovery. In the case of evolution, the process of evolution was discovered, but theories of evolution are invented.