A theory on theory (1)

There are a lot of theories in the world; Some of them I understand, some of them I don’t. Some of them I can agree with, some of them I won’t. On some of them I’ve spent some time thinking and some don’t get a second thought. Being more of a practical nature I have no theory of my own and I’m not partial to any that were offered up to me, but I wondered how I weigh theories. Well, for lack of a better word, here’s my theory.

With any theory, when it’s new to me, I start by listing and looking for the thought process. Because these thoughts are new to me, hardly any of my old thoughts come into play, I used to think this was because I was a dummy, but I changed my mind on that theory. As soon as I find the thread of the theory, I start to feel my way around, following the thread. Almost like I’m trying to find my way around a ship blindfolded by holding on to the banister, this is just the first step. When I can’t feel the basic outline, I’ll leave it. But when I can feel the outline I take the next step. Step two is taking off the blindfold and try to make out were bow and stern are and the big elements, like where’s the anchor, and what drives the engine. If my instinct tell me this could be a save ship, that this theory has some buoyancy I’ll take step three and try to find out as much detail as I can, almost like a small child questioning everything; What is this? Why is this? And how come...? Then the big test; does it stay afloat in rough seas, if it does, I’ll add this theory to my fleet, cause a ship is a ship and if it’s able to navigate through rough weather it’s fine by me.

But when you ask, I can tell you nothing theoretically about any of these theories, I’ll mix them up even trying to think about them. What I can tell you is my experience sailing any of my ships and how they hold up in rough weather.