Thanks for the detailed example of what you meant, it’s really helpful. I see what you’re getting at, and it would be insane to say legibility was completely independent of the reader, but I do view epistemic legibility as much more dependent on the work and not the reader than inferential distance, where the load is basically balanced.
In my model, Carol’s ability to check out the articles does not reflect on the book’s epistemic legibility. It definitely affects her ability to check or understand the work, but I’d say the book did its work in being legible by making it possible for Carol to figure out how she needed to follow up, or even just that follow-up was necessary. She’ll understand more when she can check out the articles, but the book met its bar of legibility by not giving her a false impression of understanding more than she did.
Thanks for the detailed example of what you meant, it’s really helpful. I see what you’re getting at, and it would be insane to say legibility was completely independent of the reader, but I do view epistemic legibility as much more dependent on the work and not the reader than inferential distance, where the load is basically balanced.
In my model, Carol’s ability to check out the articles does not reflect on the book’s epistemic legibility. It definitely affects her ability to check or understand the work, but I’d say the book did its work in being legible by making it possible for Carol to figure out how she needed to follow up, or even just that follow-up was necessary. She’ll understand more when she can check out the articles, but the book met its bar of legibility by not giving her a false impression of understanding more than she did.