--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the theory accurately predicts what…" description: "\"If the theory accurately predicts what they [scientists] see, it confirms that it's a good theory. If they see something that the theory didn't lead th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/clayton-christensen-2433_anomalies_if-the-theory-accurately-predicts-what-t_1821068.png" --- # If the theory accurately predicts what they \[scientists\]… ![“If the theory accurately predicts what they [scientists] see, it confirms that it's a good theory. If they see something that the theory didn't lead them to believe, that's what Thomas Kuhn calls an anomaly. The anomaly requires a revised theory - and you just keep going through the cycle, making…” quote by Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/clayton-christensen-2433_anomalies_if-the-theory-accurately-predicts-what-t_1821068.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/clayton-christensen-2433_anomalies_if-the-theory-accurately-predicts-what-t_1821068.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/clayton-christensen-2433_anomalies_if-the-theory-accurately-predicts-what-t_1821068.png) > “If the theory accurately predicts what they \[scientists\] see, it confirms that it's a good theory. If they see something that the theory didn't lead them to believe, that's what Thomas Kuhn calls an anomaly. The anomaly requires a revised theory - and you just keep going through the cycle, making a better theory.” [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific progress is iterative: predictions confirm theories, anomalies trigger revisions, leading to better models. **In simple terms:** Good theories predict; anomalies improve them. Key Takeaway Embrace anomalies as opportunities for advancement. Themes science innovation theory testing Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - product development - policy making - education Key Concepts philosophy paradigm shift Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond to unexpected data? - What processes help you revise theories? A Different Perspective Anomalies can be dismissed, stalling progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anomalies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anomalies/) [Cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to make better theory, you've got to use the best that's available and look through the lens of another discipline to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/if-you-want-to-make-better-theory-you-ve-got-to-use-the-best-that-s/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [In the first stage of insight-building, all that researchers can do is observe phenomena. Second, they classify the phenomena in a way that helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/in-the-first-stage-of-insight-building-all-that-researchers-can-do-is/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Disruptive technology is a theory. It says this will happen and this is why; it's a statement of cause and effect. In our teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/disruptive-technology-is-a-theory-it-says-this-will-happen-and-this/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [There is no falsification before the emergence of a better theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-lakatos/there-is-no-falsification-before-the-emergence-of-a-better-theory/) [Imre Lakatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-lakatos/) > [Any theory is better than no theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fuller-albright/any-theory-is-better-than-no-theory/) [Fuller Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fuller-albright/) > [Things just seem so much better in theory than in practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-wooding/things-just-seem-so-much-better-in-theory-than-in-practice/) [Chris Wooding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-wooding/) > [When your practice has led you to experiences that you can't understand, you need a better theory. Otherwise, if you try to understand these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-sue-flowers/when-your-practice-has-led-you-to-experiences-that-you-can-t/) [Betty Sue Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-sue-flowers/) > [A little experience is worth much argument; a few facts are better than any theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stanley-jevons/a-little-experience-is-worth-much-argument-a-few-facts-are-better/) [William Stanley Jevons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stanley-jevons/) > [And, partly, I had found that theory-structure was a superpower in helping one get what one wanted. As I had early discovered in school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/and-partly-i-had-found-that-theory-structure-was-a-superpower-in/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [People are always asking for the latest developments in the unification of this theory with that theory, and they don't give us a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/people-are-always-asking-for-the-latest-developments-in-the/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-theory-theory-and-practice-are-the-same-in-practice-they-are-not-2/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Theory without practice is of little value, whereas practice is the proof of theory.Theory is the knowledge, practice the ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alois-podhajsky/theory-without-practice-is-of-little-value-whereas-practice-is-the/) [Alois Podhajsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alois-podhajsky/) > [“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. —Albert Einstein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/in-theory-theory-and-practice-are-the-same-in-practice-they-are-not/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [Theory is worth but little, unless it can explain its own phenomena, and it must effect this without contradicting itself; therefore, the facts are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/theory-is-worth-but-little-unless-it-can-explain-its-own-phenomena/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Science is progressive and self-correcting: no significantly erroneous conclusions or false hypotheses can be sustained for long, as newer observations will ultimately knock down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-s-collins/science-is-progressive-and-self-correcting-no-significantly-erroneous/) [Francis S. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-s-collins/) ## More by Clayton Christensen > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [In our lives and in our careers, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly navigating a path by deciding between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/in-our-lives-and-in-our-careers-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-we/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Many of the factors that we think will cause motivation, such as fair pay and a good manager, won't make you love your job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/many-of-the-factors-that-we-think-will-cause-motivation-such-as-fair/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [People in private equity complain that they have so much capital and so few places to invest. But you have lots of entrepreneurs trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/people-in-private-equity-complain-that-they-have-so-much-capital-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [If you're successful and growing, you can manage any way you want to. Growth makes so many dimensions of management easier. It's when growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/if-you-re-successful-and-growing-you-can-manage-any-way-you-want-to/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [A sustaining innovation makes better products that you can sell for better profits to your best customers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/a-sustaining-innovation-makes-better-products-that-you-can-sell-for/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Purpose must be deliberately conceived and chosen, and then pursued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/purpose-must-be-deliberately-conceived-and-chosen-and-then-pursued/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [The mistake that makes launching a venture expensive is when you try to make a disruptive technology so good that it can compete on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/the-mistake-that-makes-launching-a-venture-expensive-is-when-you-try/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [What you need is a fundamental humility - the belief that you can learn from anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/what-you-need-is-a-fundamental-humility-the-belief-that-you-can-learn/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [This is why I belong, and why I believe. I commend to all this same search for happiness and for the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/this-is-why-i-belong-and-why-i-believe-i-commend-to-all-this-same/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [I think this is one reason why the Lord invented the Internet - so members can teach one another how to succeed in assignments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/i-think-this-is-one-reason-why-the-lord-invented-the-internet-so/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Because these firms listened to their customers, invested aggressively in new technologies that would provide their customers more and better products of the sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/because-these-firms-listened-to-their-customers-invested-aggressively/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [At the beginning of almost every industry, the available products and services are so expensive to own and complicated to use that only people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/at-the-beginning-of-almost-every-industry-the-available-products-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Management has to provide the coordinating mechanism between what the supplier provides and what the user needs in not-good-enough situations where product architecture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/management-has-to-provide-the-coordinating-mechanism-between-what-the/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [When you're thinking about your next product or current product and wondering how to make it different so you don't have competition, understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/when-you-re-thinking-about-your-next-product-or-current-product-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) [Explore all 166 Clayton Christensen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) ## More Anomalies quotes > [It is an anomaly that information, the one thing most necessary to our survival as choosers of our own way, should be a commodity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/it-is-an-anomaly-that-information-the-one-thing-most-necessary-to-our/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [I'm definitely an anomaly, but I'm making things. They're selling, say, martinis, and I'm kind of making vintage Riesling. People aren't going to sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-folds/i-m-definitely-an-anomaly-but-i-m-making-things-they-re-selling-say/) [Ben Folds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-folds/) > [An anomaly is not an abnormality. Diversity does not signify sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-canguilhem/an-anomaly-is-not-an-abnormality-diversity-does-not-signify-sickness/) [Georges Canguilhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-canguilhem/) > [I see that women still have self-doubt, and at the same time I feel like I see all these fantastic young women, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-harron/i-see-that-women-still-have-self-doubt-and-at-the-same-time-i-feel/) [Mary Harron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-harron/) > [“It's in the anomalies that nature reveals its secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-s-in-the-anomalies-that-nature-reveals-its-secrets/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [For me, I want to see diversity in storytelling sources because we live in a very diverse society, and the stories are for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-shelton/for-me-i-want-to-see-diversity-in-storytelling-sources-because-we/) [Lynn Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-shelton/) > [Religion itself is an absurdity and an anomaly, and paganism is acceptable only because it represents that purely orgiastic phase of religion farthest from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/religion-itself-is-an-absurdity-and-an-anomaly-and-paganism-is/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist-- I don't think she'd be missed--I'm sure she'd not be missed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/and-that-singular-anomaly-the-lady-novelist-i-don-t-think-she-d-be/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [Auditioning for television shows - to find a guy who has a lot of experience as a laborer is a bit of an anomaly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/auditioning-for-television-shows-to-find-a-guy-who-has-a-lot-of/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) > [Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/writing-is-in-the-end-that-oddest-of-anomalies-an-intimate-letter-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anomaly is when you don't fit the expected norm. Like "wait what is this?! It doesn't belong here." Its what the system never planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/anomaly-is-when-you-don-t-fit-the-expected-norm-like-wait-what-is/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [When circumstances defy order, order should bend or break: anomalies and uncertainties give validity to architecture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-venturi/when-circumstances-defy-order-order-should-bend-or-break-anomalies/) [Robert Venturi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-venturi/) > [In any long string of letters, one can find countless anomalies that will seem like convincing proofs of hidden meaning to the mind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-wittes/in-any-long-string-of-letters-one-can-find-countless-anomalies-that/) [Benjamin Wittes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-wittes/) > [In a noted 1943 Harvard study, there were no cases of toxemia, congenital anomalies, or neonatal deaths among a group of well-fed woman. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brewer/in-a-noted-1943-harvard-study-there-were-no-cases-of-toxemia/) Tom Brewer > [And knowing what happens on average is a good place to start. By so doing, we insulate ourselves from the tendency to build our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-knowing-what-happens-on-average-is-a-good-place-to-start-by-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 102 Anomalies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anomalies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If the theory accurately predicts what they [scientists] see, it confirms that it's a good theory. If they see something that the theory didn't lead them to believe, that's what Thomas Kuhn calls an anomaly. 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