Thread by @sean_a_mcclure

On Challenging Ideas

1/5

Many are unwilling to challenge established ideas for fear they lack the knowledge necessary to advance opposition.

But truth accommodates the dissident far more than those hoping to maintain the commonly accepted.

2/5

2 important points to understand:

1) The power of refutation lies in epistemic asymmetry; it requires far less information to refute a theory than to support it.

2) All attempts to assess a model’s validity must remain agnostic to the tools used to build and promote it.

3/5

This means theory exists in a constant state of susceptibility to counter evidence, and that countering does not require familiarity with the language used to defend a model.

4/5

Your agitation of one’s proposed idea is thus not only legitimate, it’s fully within your capabilities.

The way you challenge theory without speaking its language is by focusing on what it cannot explain, not what it purports to explain.

5/5

This is truth’s great efficiency. Nature reveals herself at a moment’s notice, whereas a theory’s acceptance requires continuous pressure to maintain its narrative.

With refutation, entropy is on your side.

#science #ideas #theory