But it is. There are only a limited number of ideas we can work on, so we’d better have some reason to think that this idea has more potential than any of the innumerable other ideas we could be working on instead.
There are only a limited number of ideas we can work on
You are right in general. However, it is also a mistake to limit your scope to too few of the most promising ideas. Suppose we put a number K on the number of different explanations we should consider for the Fermi paradox. What number K do you think would give the best tradeoff between thoroughness and time?
But it is. There are only a limited number of ideas we can work on, so we’d better have some reason to think that this idea has more potential than any of the innumerable other ideas we could be working on instead.
You are right in general. However, it is also a mistake to limit your scope to too few of the most promising ideas. Suppose we put a number K on the number of different explanations we should consider for the Fermi paradox. What number K do you think would give the best tradeoff between thoroughness and time?