The Seven Roles > Scholar

Theory

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Wayne:
Now this is something that puzzles me. Scientists work with theories all the time. How can that be negative?

Thanks!

John Roth:
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.

The term "theory" in the sciences means an intellectual construct that tries to pull a whole bunch of observations together into a coherent whole that can then be reasoned about, preferably with precise, repeatable measurements and to a reasonable degree of mathematical precision.

As the negative pole of Scholar, it means that what he thinks about isn't grounded in real world experience. For example, literary theory. Since the negative poles are governed by fear, a Scholar in the negative pole is afraid of finding out if his theories actually work in practice.

A good example of an ungrounded theory is modern macro-economics. It's clear that it doesn't work, but economists don't seem to be in any hurry to fix it. A Scholar in the positive pole would know there were problems and have a lot of experience in what works and what doesn't. One in the negative pole would try to defend the indefensible, like the notion that "sustainable growth" is a meaningful phrase.

HTH

John Roth

MOO:
I am confused now....I am mature scholar/sage who seeks knowledge all the time through the good old method of try and try again if I do not find what satisfies my curiosity at the time. And this curiosity often changes if I am bored with searching for the answers....some "knowledge" seeking adventures I come back to and others I do not....

If a scholar does not "practice in theory"(negative), then the scholar never gains the "knowledge"(positive) of what they are seeking....do scholars continually shift from negative pole to positive pole to gain lifes lessons? And if so, how do we advance to the next level?  ??? ;D

John Roth:

--- Quote from: MOO on April 13, 2011, 10:12:02 PM ---I am confused now....I am mature scholar/sage who seeks knowledge all the time through the good old method of try and try again if I do not find what satisfies my curiosity at the time. And this curiosity often changes if I am bored with searching for the answers....some "knowledge" seeking adventures I come back to and others I do not....

If a scholar does not "practice in theory"(negative), then the scholar never gains the "knowledge"(positive) of what they are seeking....do scholars continually shift from negative pole to positive pole to gain lifes lessons? And if so, how do we advance to the next level?  ??? ;D

--- End quote ---

Another way of expressing it is that theory, as the negative pole of Scholar, is what was called "book learning" when I was growing up. The negative pole is governed by fear. If you're not afraid to investigate to find out the actual facts to the extent you can know them, then you're not in the negative pole. Sometimes fears aren't obvious. For example, a lot of people would leave the fundamentalist religions in a heartbeat except that they're afraid of losing their friends and family if they do.

Scholars learn by getting involved with things. You can start with what someone says and investigate, or you can just jump in. That's more a matter of other overleaves.

To take a very simple example? Does the sun go around the Earth, or does the Earth go around the Sun? Most people today would answer the latter, but only because they've been taught that in school. They do not have the mathematics and physics grounding to actually understand things they may have seen, such as a Focult's Pendulum.

Why don't they? For some people, it just doesn't matter, and recognizing what doesn't matter is one of the beginnings of wisdom. Many of the rest are afraid that the math might be too hard or dozens of other excuses. It's all fear.

HTH

John Roth

MOO:
Interesting theory you have on "theory" LOL....

That does make sense....fear does control alot of peoples thinking and actions.

Thank you for responding....and the arrogant overleaf I have says "I do not worry about fear... I fear about the unknown so I have to go find out!!!" ;D

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