If someone wants to toss off a quick idea with low confidence, it doesnât seem too important to dig deep into literature; anyone who wants to take the idea more seriously can do related research themselves and comment with their results. (Of course, better literature than no literature, but not having that background doesnât seem so bad.)
On the other hand, if someone wants to sink many hours into writing a post about ideas in which they are confident, it seems like a very good idea to be familiar with extant literature.
In particular, if you are trying to argue against expert consensus, or take a firm stance on a controversial issue, you should read very closely about the ideas you want to criticize, and perhaps even seek out an expert who disagrees with you to see how they think. Some of the lowest-value posts I see (all over the internet, not just on the Forum) are those which present a viewpoint along the lines of âexperts are generally wrong, Iâve discovered/âuncovered the truth!â but donât seriously engage with why experts believe what they believe.
If someone wants to toss off a quick idea with low confidence, it doesnât seem too important to dig deep into literature; anyone who wants to take the idea more seriously can do related research themselves and comment with their results. (Of course, better literature than no literature, but not having that background doesnât seem so bad.)
On the other hand, if someone wants to sink many hours into writing a post about ideas in which they are confident, it seems like a very good idea to be familiar with extant literature.
In particular, if you are trying to argue against expert consensus, or take a firm stance on a controversial issue, you should read very closely about the ideas you want to criticize, and perhaps even seek out an expert who disagrees with you to see how they think. Some of the lowest-value posts I see (all over the internet, not just on the Forum) are those which present a viewpoint along the lines of âexperts are generally wrong, Iâve discovered/âuncovered the truth!â but donât seriously engage with why experts believe what they believe.
Readers interested in this post may also like this post on epistemic modesty.