----- Original Message -----
From: david bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
> It is a bugbear of mine that 'theory' in literature bears no resemblance
to
> theory in science, yet the word is employed with earnest and empire to
> assert the validity of 'theories' that lack disproveable correlations.
I agree, and have also found analogous boasts of "theory" dotted around in
New Age ramblings, as in Donald Watson's often comical "Dictionary of Mind
and Body":
"The theory behind pattern therapy is that certain shapes can focus the
earth's electromagnetic waves or more subtle energies to produce particular
effects."
A more honest word would be "fancy".
Paul Taylor.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|