22. Give and define the characteristics of a good theory.

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1. A theory is a statement that is backed by evidence helps us organize and understand items we have and will observe in archeology. A good theory also has to have three characteristics, it is predictive, its parsimonious and powerful.

Predictive: It gives a good explanation for why they think that is how it is. Theories that give a good reason to be favored are obviously more likely to be favored. Though the explanation can not be really short and give us no reason to believe it, it has to be very convincing.

Parsimonious: It has to be pretty simple. The more complex the theory becomes, the more chance a mistake will be made. One good example is Ockham's razor, because of how simple it is, it is widely accepted.

Powerful: It has to effect peoples life's in a massive way, like Darwin's evolution theory, changed the perspective of millions because it told them where us, intelligent humans have our roots from. Another example Like Gravity explains why we don't float into space.