I don’t think strict definitions that allow putting things into well defined “experiment” and “not experiment” bins really matter. Being understood matters, and in science context is all important, but being understood just doesnt depend on strict definitions of common words like that, and when it does those words are explicitly defined instead of left for assumptions.

It is the kind of questions about scientific literacy you see quite a bit, loading terms with really consequential definitions and then asking at the edge cases... the answer usually lies in a combination of correcting usage that feels a little odd while also trying to break down the assumption of the question itself, in other words rejecting the premise.

It’s like the many arguments about the usage of the word “theory” especially when with the pejorative “just a theory”, the reality is scientists would never be confused by an odd usage of the word and themselves don’t place much importance on it.

“mu”