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billswift comments on Class Project - Less Wrong
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No - this is Eliezer's
alternate universestoryline in which the science-equivalent is treated as a secret the same way the Pythagoreans did. The initiates - the people with access to the secret knowledge - use it for technology, just as we do, except because the general public doesn't know the science, the tech looks amazing.The idea, I believe, is to reduce the attraction of bogus secret societies. In Brennan's world, anyone who made one would be challenged to accomplish as great or greater feats than the Bayesians - a task that a mere mystery cult would fail at.
There are actually multiple reasons, some stories stress different ones. The one I like is that by keeping the results secret, they can train students in discovery by encouraging/forcing them to rediscover the laws as part of their training.