Explanation

A mental model that accounts for some aspect of the world, either physical or Abstract.

Explanations are the fundamental unit of Knowledge. Good explanations are Hard to Vary — their components cannot be arbitrarily changed without rendering them inconsistent. The growth of knowledge is the growth of better explanations through Conjecture and Criticism.

Connections

• •The fundamental unit of Knowledge
• •Good explanations are Hard to Vary
• •Created through Conjecture and tested through Criticism
• •Can be Explicit or Inexplicit
• •Explanatory Knowledge is solutions stored as mental models
• •Explicanda are what explanations purport to explain
• •Modes of explanation share common characteristics
• •Reach measures how far an explanation extends beyond its origin
• •Creativity is the ability to generate new explanations
• •Evidence tests explanations but doesn't generate them