An additional problem with the notion of an abstract, theoretical knowledge base is that it may not be fertile enough to generate new knowledge.
Thomas (1997) argues that knowledge growth is actually inhibited by the
presence of canonical theoretical frameworks. Theories can serve as
totalizing discourses that limit vision, preserve the status quo, and prevent the
kinds of eruptions of insight that tend to characterize knowledge growth in
most fields. New understandings typically arise from fragmented, local, and
specific knowledge that is not tethered to the tenets of existing theory. Breakthroughs
occur despite theory rather than because of it; success comes from
“the happy process of noticing” and the “unusual conjoining of ideas” more
than from the employment of theory (Thomas, 1997, pp. 99-100).