Good theory is like an edifice
Good theory is an edifice
Bad theory is a juvenile fantasy
It’s mashing lego bricks together
It’s doodling a tower with crayons
It’s a castle made of sand
It’s a house of cards
Good theory is a structure that doesn’t collapse
How does a theory collapse?
Theory has to be one thing — CONSISTENT
When inconsistencies are found — it collapses
Unless those inconsistencies can be resolved — it collapses
Like a house of cards
I know that you thought you could erect the Tower of Babel out of cards
Sounded like a great idea
Then you failed
Good theory is an edifice
It’s a large, imposing building
It doesn’t collapse
Someone thought it through
Made sure it won’t collapse
It doesn’t just look good on pictures, or in your mind’s eye
It stands tall and strong
THIS is the difference between BAD theories made by dumb, ignorant, lazy, sensational, conspiratorial, disingenuous people
And GOOD theories, like those made by rigorous scientists, genuine scholars and academics, serious thinkers
The latter know that it’s a building
The final result is irrelevant if they fuck up the fundamentals
There must be no contradictions, no weaknesses,
It must be consistent, congruent, logically sound
If it’s not — then it doesn’t matter if it predicts the second coming, or alien overlords, or quantum teleportation, or donut-shaped planet earth
It’s UTTERLY useless anyway
Because it’s wrong
And it’s wrong because it contains inconsistency
But the former don’t care
They confused the thing for what it appeared to be
E = mc² looked mind-boggling, incomprehensible, and was lauded
Believe it or not — a number of morons actually went ahead and believed that mind-boggling, incomprehensible — are the preconditions of a good theory
Then they came up with whatever brilliant conspiracy theory that you had misfortune hearing about
And of course you and I, in elementary school — had great theories too
Some of them might have even been true, by accident
But when you grow up — the difference between what SOUNDS GOOD, and what IS GOOD — begins to matter
The difference between what COULD WORK, and what ACTUALLY WORKS — begins to matter
And you start looking for serious theories
So no,
that fantastical theory is not bad because it’s fantastical
it’s not bad because it’s coming from someone “just asking questions”
it’s not bad because it’s NOT coming from the establishment
it’s not bad because it’s not coming from a famous or serious or sophisticated writer, thinker, scholar, guru
it’s not bad because it “challenges the status quo”
It’s bad because it’s an inconsistent, incoherent, lazy piece of fucking shit
That was not serious pursuit of truth — but pursuit of vibes, entertainment, sensation, provocation, attention, clout…
It’s MOST DEFINITELY not a castle, with 8 m thick walls
It’s an airplane made of paper
It’s a house of cards
It may even look like a castle
But if you ONLY cared to ask if it’s durable — you’d instantly understand
And then you’d know what a good theory is — and what a bad theory is
It’s really not that complicated