One evolution in my thinking over the last ~5 years is that I now hate High Theory

I find a few other people using the phrase, but no crisp definitions so I'm going to attempt one.

It will necessarily be wrong

...if I claimed it was simple AND correct IT WOULD BE A HIGH THEORY

2/

A "high theory" is an explanation of multiple phenomena using a simple (low Kolmogorov complexity) explanation, often coupled with an appeal to essentialism.

3/

A trailer park example of High Theory is "Jews pull all the strings" or "whites are better than blacks in every way".

4/

A mid brow example of High Theory is "Christianity caused the dark ages and delayed Real Civilization by 1,000 years".

5/

High brow examples of High Theory are whatever most philosophers are nattering on about, and anything 1 or 2 steps removed from a TED talk.