Thoughts on Theory

Someone said, "Without theory all facts are equally relevant."

I repeated this to an acquaintance a few years ago and he responded by pointing out that there are no facts.

Good answer.

It doesn't sound as good, but it would probably be more accurate to say, "Without theory all information is equally relevant."

By "theory" I mean higher level structures, or frameworks by which we view the world or anything in it.

Examples of theory include the following concepts: Euclidian Geometry, numbers, religious thought, psychology, and philosophy.

But theory also includes even the simplest of things such as how to cook cornbread, or whether to leave the loose end of the toilet paper roll hanging from the front or the back.

Theories having to do with how we view the world often classify or give priority or place to other theories. For example if you believe in the theory that the Bible is the Word of God and Absolute Truth, you might be apt to classify Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection (a.k.a. "The Theory of Evolution") as hogwash, a destructive idea put out to the world by Satan to undermine faith in God and The Bible.

The things I've already said in this post are of this form. I'm classifying belief in the Bible as the absolute Word of God as "theory", because of the view of the world I've adopted.

So back to the original thought, we might say that we have "facts" or "information", and "on top" of that data we impose theory.

So, whatever, right?

Not.

Understanding this is the beginning to understanding how exceedingly powerful theory can be, exceedingly powerful.

Theory that takes hold in the mind can literally change the world.

Russia under the Tzars was overthrown as the result of theory (Marx's, Lenin's, and others) that took root in the minds of some.

We've sent machines into space as the result of theory mostly worked out by Isaac Newton in his 17th century masterpiece Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

The U.S. went to war on the theory, actually called a "doctrine", of "pre-emptive strike."

The idea of God is a theory. How much influence has that idea had?

And so on...

Some theories revolutionize individuals just as much as some revolutionize the world.

A theory is like a lens through which you view the world or part of it. You think you see "the world" but you really see only an image of the world delivered to you through your lens. If your lens is distorted then so is your view. Then you're in trouble.

Much more to be said on this but for now, try for a moment to look at yourself and your beliefs as if separate from yourself. Try for a moment to separate yourself from your strong convictions (that we often change later in life) and ponder what those ideas, those lenses, are doing to your view of the world.

That's the power of theory.

-Forsyth