Today the Bones Blog brings you a guest essay by ~Shadow Kurahk~ on the topic of S&T theories. He suggested the theme in a PM, and I offered to host an essay by him on it if he wanted to write one. He did, and here it is!




Theories are almost certainly the center of the BIONICLE fan base nowadays. Though, I'm not just talking about all the theories that are out there. I mainly want to talk about those theories that are well-written, have clear evidence that backs up the thoughts one portrays, and are ultimately thought through for quite some time before they are posted.

These theories are not only great contributions to the fan society of BIONICLE, but are the best and most useful ones out there right now. Now, there certainly isn't one way to achieve this, but a way I find useful that I would like to discuss today is following three simple rules that can ensure you have a good theory: Rational, Practical, Statistical.

Let's look at the basic definition of the word 'Theory':

a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena.

A simpler definition would be:

a set of statements that more surely predict a future happening.

How you must achieve this sureness that a theory requires, you must make sure to write your theory accordingly to three rules: Rational, Practical, Statistical. Here are some more in-depth views of these three words, to ensure that you all have a wide understanding of what the three words mean and how you should use them.

Rational

Making sure your theory is rational is an urgent part of your theory. You must make sure that your audience can easily understand your theory, and that you give it a certain sense of your own that helps increase the chance that people will agree with it.

Without a rational theory, there's no likeliness that it will gain the support of many members. In fact, there's no chance of it being at all true in even the slightest bit.

Let's say you were writing a theory on Mata Nui's awakening. Picture the year was 2007. You couldn't just go out and say, "Mata Nui is going to awaken in 2008." Even though this is indeed true, people wouldn't have believed it very easily, only because you didn't provide any evidence or facts to back up the thought.

Evidence and facts are a key part in rational theories. Without evidence and facts, there is no reason to believe the theory. So keep that in mind.

Practical

For something to be practical means that it is capable or suitable to actually be put into effect. More mainly, it means that it's likely that it could happen. As such, making sure your theories are practical is quite vital. To put it basically, if your theory is practical, then it can happen. In fact, for your theory to be practical means that it is likely to happen anyways.

Making your theory practical can be difficult, though an easy way to do it is to balance out the odds and calculate it. This may seem long and complicated but if you're a frequent writer of theories you shouldn't have trouble balancing out all the odds.

To exemplify, you can't just go and write a theory that says that Takanuva is going to kill the Toa Mistika. For one, Takanuva has been cured of any darkness that might have taken over his body, and two, Takanuva is an ally, and no evidence leads up to support that Takanuva could indeed be a villain.

The theory is proven wrong. Simple as that.

Statistical

The best evidence you can provide is a statistic. Of course, it could be very hard to find true statistics. Though, that is the beauty of a theory. If you wrote the theory on the spot, without research, it's not at all a theory. Remember, theories are sets of statements that more surely predict a future happening.

Statistics are very hard to cope with. You're never sure if you have it true or false, but it helps otherwise. Numbers help people concentrate specifically on the way your theory works, and will ultimately create both a better experience for many and improve the chance of your theory being true.



Compiling all your information into the post isn't challenging at all. You must list events in chronological order, facts in order of most significant to least, and statistics from highest numbers to lowest.

It's really as simple as that.

Please, please keep in mind that there is more than one way to write a theory. I just find this method extremely easy and useful. Thanks!





bonesiii: The only thing I wanna add is an example for statistics -- say you're doing a theory about a new team of heroes (Toa, Glatorian, whatever), and you're theorizing on mask powers. It could help to list previous mask powers and the justifications for why they were chosen for that particular Toa. This would be statistics. Then you could compare it to what you know already about the new heroes' tasks and the like. The previous statistics could give you some sense of what powers might be chosen for the new heroes.

Nothing more to add. Thanks, SK, and great job!