In which we should be going as far down the chain as possible when considering a factual dispute.
Thus, if you find yourself thinking about whether someone can be trusted based on reputation or prestige, ask, “Can I look at their arguments instead?”. If you find yourself looking at their arguments, ask, “Can I look at their calculations?”. If you find yourself looking at their calculations, ask, “Can I perform an experiment?”.
An exercise would be difficult in the absence of real factual disputes. If there are real factual disputes amongst the participants: Begin arguing about the factual dispute based on whatever seems most compelling. Ask the above questions, and resolve it to the point where at least in principle an experiment is identified which would answer that question. It would be helpful if the dispute is cut off after a set amount of time (slightly more than 5 seconds, I think) so that it counts as practice for the 5-second skill of determining whether experimental evidence is available.
Taking a look at Hug the Query for the exercise:
We have an ordered hierarchy:
authority
argument
calculations
experiment
In which we should be going as far down the chain as possible when considering a factual dispute.
Thus, if you find yourself thinking about whether someone can be trusted based on reputation or prestige, ask, “Can I look at their arguments instead?”. If you find yourself looking at their arguments, ask, “Can I look at their calculations?”. If you find yourself looking at their calculations, ask, “Can I perform an experiment?”.
An exercise would be difficult in the absence of real factual disputes. If there are real factual disputes amongst the participants: Begin arguing about the factual dispute based on whatever seems most compelling. Ask the above questions, and resolve it to the point where at least in principle an experiment is identified which would answer that question. It would be helpful if the dispute is cut off after a set amount of time (slightly more than 5 seconds, I think) so that it counts as practice for the 5-second skill of determining whether experimental evidence is available.
Did I miss anything?