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Vladimir_Nesov comments on Let's reimplement EURISKO! - Less Wrong
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I think one of the factors that contributes to interest in ad-hoc techniques is the prospect of a "thrilling discovery". One is allowed to fantasize that all of their time and effort may pay off suddenly and unpredictably, which makes the research seem that much more fun and exciting. This is in contrast to a more formal approach in which understanding and progress are incremental by their very nature.
I bring this up because I see it as a likely underlying motive for arguments of the form "ad-hoc technique X is worth pursuing even though it's not a formal approach".
No, it actually looks (just barely) feasible to get a FOOM out of something ad-hoc, and there are even good reasons for expecting that. But it doesn't seem to be on the way towards deeper understanding. The best to hope for is catching it right when the FOOMing is imminent and starting to do serious theory, but the path of blind experimentation doesn't seem to be the most optimal one even towards blind FOOM.
That doesn't contradict what logi said. It could still be a motive.
It could, but it won't be invalid motive, as I (maybe incorrectly) heard implied.
I didn't mean to imply it was an invalid motive, merely a potential underlying motive. If it is valid in the sense that you mean (and I think it is), that's just reason to scrutinize such claims even more closely.