Note 109

The thing about applied social subjects is that context is at least as, if not more important than broad principles per se. Statements are generalisable to a much lesser degree than often assumed. This is because theory is much more accessible than live information required for contextualised understanding.

For instance, our understanding of economics is incomplete because of a lack of understanding of the cultural and historically contingent factors that determine expectations of consumers and producers, the conditions and motivations of innovators and market adopters, and forms of economic organisation. This may not be easily generalised or mathematically tractable.

International relations often operates on an ideological-descriptive plane of broad generalizations, which often confuses debate when it is used to assess practice, and operates on the wrong level.