I think you wrote some interesting stuff. As for your question on a meta-epistemy, I think what you said about general approaches mostly holds in this case. Maybe there’s a specific way to classify sub-epistemies, but it’s probably better to have some general rules of thumb that weed out the definitely wrong candidates, and let other ideas get debated on. To save community time, if that’s really a concern, a group could employ a back-off scheme where ideas that have solid rebuttals get less and less time in the debate space.
I don’t know that defining sub-epistemies is so important. You give a distinction between math and theoretical computer science, but unless you’re in those fields the distinction is near meaningless. So maybe it’s more important to define these sub-epistemies as your relation to them increases.
As for your question on a meta-epistemy, I think what you said about general approaches mostly holds in this case. Maybe there’s a specific way to classify sub-epistemies, but it’s probably better to have some general rules of thumb that weed out the definitely wrong candidates, and let other ideas get debated on.
I agree. I don’t expect a full-fledged meta-epistemy. Again, “That epistemy can be as simple as some sanity checks”.
I don’t know that defining sub-epistemies is so important. You give a distinction between math and theoretical computer science, but unless you’re in those fields the distinction is near meaningless. So maybe it’s more important to define these sub-epistemies as your relation to them increases.
I agree. I picked that distinction because I assumed many rationalists are in CS or have strong mathematical foundations. It might have been a less precise example.
But there are two answers to your remark :
That people who aren’t in math or theoretical CS and thus can’t distinguish them should not post their related ideas is not a bug, it’s a feature. I have tCS or math aberrations on LW that made the community lose time.
That we shouldn’t lose time defining epistemies on new ideas. I agree, that’s what the “pre-epistemy phase”, and the phase status more generally are meant to convey. But if a group of related ideas gets enough traction (Rationalism, Utilitarianism), defining an epistemy becomes more and more important.
I think you wrote some interesting stuff. As for your question on a meta-epistemy, I think what you said about general approaches mostly holds in this case. Maybe there’s a specific way to classify sub-epistemies, but it’s probably better to have some general rules of thumb that weed out the definitely wrong candidates, and let other ideas get debated on. To save community time, if that’s really a concern, a group could employ a back-off scheme where ideas that have solid rebuttals get less and less time in the debate space.
I don’t know that defining sub-epistemies is so important. You give a distinction between math and theoretical computer science, but unless you’re in those fields the distinction is near meaningless. So maybe it’s more important to define these sub-epistemies as your relation to them increases.
Thanks
I agree. I don’t expect a full-fledged meta-epistemy. Again, “That epistemy can be as simple as some sanity checks”.
I agree. I picked that distinction because I assumed many rationalists are in CS or have strong mathematical foundations. It might have been a less precise example.
But there are two answers to your remark :
That people who aren’t in math or theoretical CS and thus can’t distinguish them should not post their related ideas is not a bug, it’s a feature. I have tCS or math aberrations on LW that made the community lose time.
That we shouldn’t lose time defining epistemies on new ideas. I agree, that’s what the “pre-epistemy phase”, and the phase status more generally are meant to convey. But if a group of related ideas gets enough traction (Rationalism, Utilitarianism), defining an epistemy becomes more and more important.