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Gunnar_Zarncke comments on Rationality Quotes Thread November 2015 - Less Wrong
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Quantum theories are responsible for a lot of the quack ideas too. I fear this isn't enough to make an idea ridiculous.
But quantum theory also makes correct predictions, and mainstream physics does not en masse advocate quackery. Vitalism never worked, and it lead the entire medical community to advocate actively harmful quackery for much of the 19th century.
By this line of reasoning almost all past theories can the discredited. People use a theory to make predictions and act on them. Only later do you learn the shortcomings. If you don't have empiricism you don't even have a tool to systematically notice your error. I think this is a fully general counter argument.
No, the important older theories lead to better theories.
Newton's gravitational physics made correct predictions of limited precision, and Newton's laws lead to the development of Navier-Stokes, kinetic theories of gasses,etc. Even phlogiston lead to the discovery of oxygen and the modern understanding of oxidation. You don't have to be 100% right to make useful predictions.
Vitalism, on the other hand, like astrology, didn't lead anywhere useful.