Prediction and Postdiction

The status-power theory of social relations hovers somewhere between the types Theory₁ and Theory₂. In dealing with emotions, it aspires to Theory₁ predictive ability, but status-power theory also has large areas of understanding that have not been formalized as a 'logically-connected system' of propositions. This kind of theory is endemic to the physical sciences and satisfies the criterion that it can make successful predictions. Postdiction is put into the service of prediction. Once in place, action readiness pauses to take account of the relational lay of the land, that is, the status-power conditions at that point, and what is likely to occur relationally if some readied action is emitted. But the complexity of the issue is not exhausted by naming structural features that reflect the extant status-power situation. These must be augmented by yet another feature of power relations, namely whether the power inspires sufficient fear to gain the desired compliance.