This piece is really good at delineating these issues. I wonder there is some overlap or ambiguity between assumption and hypothesis. We are taught in science classes to make and test hypotheses. These hypotheses might look like assumptions or worse to others. So I wonder if this is a communication problem before anything else.

Another issue is epistemological. How would we prove a hypothesis? Usually it’s some form of explanation that eliminates any black boxes This includes producing new phenomena by manipulating elements of the explanatory model.

All of the above is to say that it’s understandable to provisionally (or worse) embrace a hypothesis to see if you could master its operation. Then the hypothesis might ascend to theory, or it’s back to the drawing board. And it’s also understandable to see that process as jumping the gun epistemologically.

Venture capitalists invest in 5 ventures hoping 1 succeeds. That can look like they believe in all 5 ventures. “Believe”? It’s complicated.