Semi-transitive trust is also how scientists update their beliefs, and therefore how we form scientific conclusions.
So the dilemma about how to update in your examples also govern our understanding of cutting edge scientific issues. I’m pretty sure of that after spending a couple of decades as a research scientist. I suspect this is also true of our understandings of politics, business, and everything else that makes the modern world turn. Including our understanding of the interlocking questiosn underlying the alignment problem.
In the case of scientific inquiry, the other scientists have tried to state more of why they’ve formed their beliefs; they cite statistics, methods, and other studies. But you can’t understand all of their methods; they’re never literally all stated, and you know you’re misunderstanding even some of the ones that are stated. And you can’t possibly read and fully understand all of the citations they give, unless this is exactly your research are, and you’re addressing exactly the same question. Even then, you probably don’t have time to read every cited study in detail, let alone ask the authors in person to clarify.
Add to these problems the blurry line between lying and biased reporting.
Semi-transitive trust is also how scientists update their beliefs, and therefore how we form scientific conclusions.
So the dilemma about how to update in your examples also govern our understanding of cutting edge scientific issues. I’m pretty sure of that after spending a couple of decades as a research scientist. I suspect this is also true of our understandings of politics, business, and everything else that makes the modern world turn. Including our understanding of the interlocking questiosn underlying the alignment problem.
In the case of scientific inquiry, the other scientists have tried to state more of why they’ve formed their beliefs; they cite statistics, methods, and other studies. But you can’t understand all of their methods; they’re never literally all stated, and you know you’re misunderstanding even some of the ones that are stated. And you can’t possibly read and fully understand all of the citations they give, unless this is exactly your research are, and you’re addressing exactly the same question. Even then, you probably don’t have time to read every cited study in detail, let alone ask the authors in person to clarify.
Add to these problems the blurry line between lying and biased reporting.
I think understanding this, as well as its place in our epistemics (as addressed in the excellent Truthseeking is the ground in which other principles grow is critical for making progress on complex questionsn.