Theory

Theory is a structured and substantiatible form of belief. It is view of the world that is supported by experimentation and founded on other established views of the world. Is a theory true? No, a theory is something that has not been proved to be false yet. It is something that might be true, that may have been observed to be true in a limited number of circumstances. Theory allows us to convert a question into something that is structured enough to be able to pursue knowledge about whether the idea or question is true.

In daily life do we have theories? Yes, we all have our theories about our own health, diet, relationships, how the grass grows, and a hundred other experiences. These “theories” are generally less structured than those used in research and scientific investigation. In many cases, theories are our own method of holding onto to beliefs that we are not sure are true and that we may never make the effort to prove are true. In labeling them theories, we admit that we are not sure about them, and we may also continue to believe them for years without ever taking any action to prove their validity. We may just wait until new knowledge falls into our laps or we stumble into experiences that prove that the theory is not true.

These theories may be nothing more than ignorance of how the real world works. People have believed that the moon causes warts and that stress causes ulcers. These theories may be held and acted on for decades or even centuries without serious attempts to determine whether they are true or not. In that case, is a “personal theory” really a theory if there is no attempt to determine its validity? Do these attempts have to be formal? Or is the process of living and comparing experiences to internal theories a form of experimentation and revalidation?