I’m skeptical of the idea that the hypothesis “Odin created physics as we know it” would actually make no additional predictions over the hypothesis . I’m tempted to say that as a last resort we could distinguish between them by generating situations like “Omega asks you to bet on whether Odin exists, and will evaluate you using a logarithmic scoring rule and will penalize you that many utilons”, though at this point maybe it is unjustified to invoke Omega without explaining how she knows these things.
On August 1st 2008 at midnight Greenwich time, a one-foot sphere of chocolate cake spontaneously formed in the center of the Sun; and then, in the natural course of events, this Boltzmann Cake almost instantly dissolved.
I would say that this hypothesis is meaningful and almost certainly false. Not that it is “meaningless”. Even though I cannot think of any possible experimental test that would discriminate between its being true, and its being false.
Would that be in the same equivalence class as its negation?
I’m skeptical of the idea that the hypothesis “Odin created physics as we know it” would actually make no additional predictions over the hypothesis
As the originator of that hypothesis, the idea I had in mind was that there are two theories: physics as we know it, and Odin created physics as we know it. Scientists hold the first theory, and Odinists hold the second. The theories predict exactly the same things, so that Odinists and scientists have the same answers to problems, but the Odinists theory lets them say that Odin exists—and they happen to have a book that starts with “If Odin exists, then...” and goes on to detail how they should live their lives. The scientists have a great interest in showing that the second theory is wrong, because the Odinists are otherwise justified in their pillaging of the scientists’ home towns. But the Odinists are clever folk, and say we shouldn’t expect to see anything different from the world as we know it because Odin is all-powerful at world-creation.
Are you defining Odin’s role and behaviour such that he is guaranteed not to actually do anything that impinges on reality beyond creating the laws of physics that we already know? Or is it just that he hasn’t interfered with anything so far, or hasn’t interfered with anything in such a way that anything we can observe is different?
(Edit: I ask because any claims about metaethics that depend on Odin’s existence would seem to require raising him to the level of a causally-active component of the theory rather than an arbitrary and unfalsifiable epiphenomenon.)
I am defining him as being an arbitrary and unfalsifiable epiphenomenon everywhere excepting that he was causally active in the creation of the book that details the ethical lives Odinists ought to live. Basically, he hasn’t interfered with anything in such a way that anything we could ever observe is different, except he wrote a book about it.
It’s clear to me that anyone could choose to reject Odinism, but it’s not clear what arguments other than a strong Occam’s razor could convince a sufficiently reasonable and de-biased (ie genuinely truth-seeking) Odinist to give up their belief.
I’m skeptical of the idea that the hypothesis “Odin created physics as we know it” would actually make no additional predictions over the hypothesis . I’m tempted to say that as a last resort we could distinguish between them by generating situations like “Omega asks you to bet on whether Odin exists, and will evaluate you using a logarithmic scoring rule and will penalize you that many utilons”, though at this point maybe it is unjustified to invoke Omega without explaining how she knows these things.
But what do you think of some of the examples given in “No Logical Positivist I”?
Would that be in the same equivalence class as its negation?
As the originator of that hypothesis, the idea I had in mind was that there are two theories: physics as we know it, and Odin created physics as we know it. Scientists hold the first theory, and Odinists hold the second. The theories predict exactly the same things, so that Odinists and scientists have the same answers to problems, but the Odinists theory lets them say that Odin exists—and they happen to have a book that starts with “If Odin exists, then...” and goes on to detail how they should live their lives. The scientists have a great interest in showing that the second theory is wrong, because the Odinists are otherwise justified in their pillaging of the scientists’ home towns. But the Odinists are clever folk, and say we shouldn’t expect to see anything different from the world as we know it because Odin is all-powerful at world-creation.
Honestly, I should have picked Loki.
Are you defining Odin’s role and behaviour such that he is guaranteed not to actually do anything that impinges on reality beyond creating the laws of physics that we already know? Or is it just that he hasn’t interfered with anything so far, or hasn’t interfered with anything in such a way that anything we can observe is different?
(Edit: I ask because any claims about metaethics that depend on Odin’s existence would seem to require raising him to the level of a causally-active component of the theory rather than an arbitrary and unfalsifiable epiphenomenon.)
I am defining him as being an arbitrary and unfalsifiable epiphenomenon everywhere excepting that he was causally active in the creation of the book that details the ethical lives Odinists ought to live. Basically, he hasn’t interfered with anything in such a way that anything we could ever observe is different, except he wrote a book about it.
It’s clear to me that anyone could choose to reject Odinism, but it’s not clear what arguments other than a strong Occam’s razor could convince a sufficiently reasonable and de-biased (ie genuinely truth-seeking) Odinist to give up their belief.