, 5 tweets, 2 min read
My Authors
Read all threads
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
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Sean McClure

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!