I think that the value of this type of work comes from:
(i) making it easier for people entering the community to come up to the frontier of thought on different issues;
(ii) building solid foundations for our positions, which makes it easier to go take large steps in subsequent work.
For what it’s worth, I do agree that’s where most of the value comes from, though I think the value is much lower than the value of similar empirical/bold writing, at least for this example.
I think that the value of this type of work comes from: (i) making it easier for people entering the community to come up to the frontier of thought on different issues; (ii) building solid foundations for our positions, which makes it easier to go take large steps in subsequent work.
Cf. Olah & Carter’s recent post on research debt.
For what it’s worth, I do agree that’s where most of the value comes from, though I think the value is much lower than the value of similar empirical/bold writing, at least for this example.