No, I’m definitely not against either of those things. I just think that it would make sense to begin by understanding what is currently known about a topic.
The lesson I take from these and a hundred other examples is to employ the rationality virtue of scholarship. Stand on the shoulders of giants. We don’t each need to cut our own path into a subject right from the point of near-total ignorance. That’s silly. Just catch the bus on the road of knowledge paved by hundreds of diligent workers before you, and get off somewhere near where the road finally fades into fresh jungle. Study enough to have a view of the current state of the debate so you don’t waste your time on paths that have already dead-ended, or on arguments that have already been refuted. Catch up before you speak up.
In the context of massage, here’s how I imagine this looking. Before trying to figure things out on your own, spend a few months reading some textbooks on massage therapy and adjacent fields like human physiology. Talk to people in the field and ask to be pointed in the right direction. Stuff like that.
To be clear, this can be done in combination with first-principles reasoning. I think it’s a great exercise to try to think from first principles about something, and then do some investigation into what the academic/professional community currently knows, and how what they currently know compares to what you’ve found. I think it’s a great way to develop an understanding that is Truly Part of You.
First principles thinking could also lead to genuine insights. In a somewhat mature field, as many researchers will tell you, such insights are not easy to find. But hey, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. It’s just worth knowing what sort of level of difficulty it is you’re dealing with.
this sounds like you’re against first-principles reasoning and (re)discovery, which seems odd to me on LW
No, I’m definitely not against either of those things. I just think that it would make sense to begin by understanding what is currently known about a topic.
The post The Neglected Virtue of Scholarship elaborates on this idea. An excerpt:
In the context of massage, here’s how I imagine this looking. Before trying to figure things out on your own, spend a few months reading some textbooks on massage therapy and adjacent fields like human physiology. Talk to people in the field and ask to be pointed in the right direction. Stuff like that.
To be clear, this can be done in combination with first-principles reasoning. I think it’s a great exercise to try to think from first principles about something, and then do some investigation into what the academic/professional community currently knows, and how what they currently know compares to what you’ve found. I think it’s a great way to develop an understanding that is Truly Part of You.
First principles thinking could also lead to genuine insights. In a somewhat mature field, as many researchers will tell you, such insights are not easy to find. But hey, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. It’s just worth knowing what sort of level of difficulty it is you’re dealing with.
Hey, I am trying to rediscover medicine from the first principles, would you like to try my pill?