#realsm

Last night I had a really cool dream, and I’m still amazed that I remember it so vividly.

The context or story isn’t important, but the main point was that I dreamt that I had wings, big, white feathers. I still distinctly feel the weight of them on my back, feeling the feather tips brush against the lower back now and again. In this dream I even showed someone the wings, and encouraged them to feel them, and I felt them feeling my wings. I felt them touching where the wings met my back, I felt the slight tickling sensation. It is such a vivid and real memory, like it really happened. I’m still reeling about it and it’s been several hours. And don’t get me started about the flying. I remember taking off, gliding, flapping, each sensation, the specific muscle movements. Even the fatigue from flying for too long.

I’m still amazed. I never want to forget it.

the most perfect self-portrait I’ll ever be able to make *~*

I am a political science major, which means I spend a lot of my time reading theories. If, however, political science is not your area of expertise, keep reading. The guide I am about to share with you can be applied to any theory, regardless of the discipline.

This guide was presented to me in my international relations theory course and has proved to be very useful in dissecting complicated schools of thought. Its a good starting point to your study and I hope it will help you as much as it has help me. How to Evaluate Theories: 

Predictive Power: Good predictions equal good prescriptions. The first step in any evaluation starts with determining how good a certain theory was at predicting past events. Examine what the theory claims to explain and see if the claims match the history.

Explanatory Power: Must be able to answer the "why?" question. This is obviously very important. A good theory must answer a question. Theories are comprised of a collection hypothesis. These hypothesis must explain a certain phenomena in order to be useful. 

Logical Consistency: Does it make sense to you? Although many theories require background knowledge to fully understand, it must be based on logical truths. If the thought process behind the hypothesis is unsound, the theory becomes useless. Logical consistency can be easily assessed by the average layperson, regardless of the technical detail of a given theory. 

Parsimony: Keep it simple. Theories serve as simplified models of the real world. They are not supposed to represent the real world. Therefore a sound theory keeps things simple, utilizing intelligent assumptions and generalizations, which allows full attention to be placed on hypothesis testing.

Organizing: Power or Scope. Keeping with the theme above, a theory must be able to explain a lot with a little. 

Fruitfulness: Can a theory raise new questions? The last evaluation point is whether or not a theory is useful beyond the initial questions that it poses. Is there potential to propose new theories as an offshoot to this one? Does this theory open doors to different lines of thinking?