Gwern_Branwen comments on The Failures of Eld Science - Less Wrong

33 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 12 May 2008 10:32AM

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Comment author: Gwern_Branwen 11 February 2009 02:59:52PM 9 points [-]

Brandon: If we're still discussing possible failures, I'd like to chuck in one of my own.

- They didn't *know* that they were looking for a better theory.

The students in this story have the incredible advantage that they are starting from a wrong theory and know this for certain, and not merely suspect or hold as a general philosophy-of-science principle 'there's probably a better theory than the current one'. This gives them several things psychologically: 1) the willingness to scrap painfully won insights and theories in favor of something new and 2) saves them from spending all their time and effort patching up the old theory.

I know in the past when I've tried my hand at problems (logic puzzles come to mind) that I am far more motivated and effective when I am assured that there is in fact a correct answer than when I am unsure the question is even answerable.