IV. Evidence from Cultural Transmission
If documentation in general could not transmit theory, human cultural progress through written works would be inexplicable.
The Renaissance
The revival of classical learning in 14th-16th century Europe depended on the transmission of Aristotelian and Platonic theory across a thousand-year gap via preserved texts.
Scholars who had never met an ancient Greek philosopher nonetheless acquired enough of their theory to extend and argue with it. The theory traveled through documents—imperfectly, requiring interpretation, but sufficiently to enable continuation.
Mathematics
Each generation of mathematicians builds on proofs and concepts transmitted through written works. Euclid’s Elements transmitted geometric theory for over two millennia.
The theory persists even when no living person possesses it through direct transmission. A student today can reconstruct Euclidean reasoning from the text alone.
Scientific Paradigms
Kuhn himself documented how scientific paradigms are transmitted through textbooks—written artifacts that somehow convey not just facts but ways of seeing problems.
A physics student learns not only equations but how to recognize when each equation applies. This is theory transmission through documentation.
The Question Refined
These examples prove that theory can be documented and transmitted. The question is why software documentation typically fails where philosophical, mathematical, and scientific writing sometimes succeeds.
The answer lies in what these successful documents contain: not just WHAT and HOW, but WHY and WHEN. They aim to build theory in the reader, not merely describe artifacts.