When we succeed in solving a problem, scientific or otherwise, we end up with a set of theories which, though they are not problem-free, we find preferable to the theories we started with. What new attributes the new theories will have therefore depends on what we saw as the deficiencies in our original theories – that is, on what the problem was.
The better theories are connected to the last best theory in that they are solutions to the problems present in that last best theory. They’re then defined by the last best theory. Additionally, every best theory we have contains some errors, always.
