Arguments Should Be Decisive Criticisms — LessWrong

Comment by TAG - (Im going to make some references to Critical Rationalism, since I don't know where the line is drawn between CR and CF).

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Decisive criticism would be great,if available. You said that proof is difficult because you have to show that a theory works in every case. But there can be criticism of criticism, counter counter argument against counter argument. (Even criticisms of critical rationalism!). So, to know that a criticism is decisive, you have to know that no one could possibly come up with a counter criticism. (And that no one could reframe the whole arena). Which presents a similar problem to the problem of decisive proof. Neither form of perfection is available.

Theoretical questions have a particularly acute version of the problem. In philosophy, even the nature of truth is disputable. Practical decisions where you get instant feedback on success are much easier. The two are not the same.

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Ditto decisive negative arguments!

Imperfect criticisms and imperfect negative evidence could still weigh more heavily than imperfect support and positive evidence. That still doesn't add up to the CR claims that there is no justication, and induction never works. You are right that induction is dumb, but it still sometimes works..especially if taken probabilistically. The Turkey paradox is an example where it doesn't work, the Sun rising in the East is an example where it does.

Dumb is better than nothing. In an imperfect world, you need to use anything with non-zero value.

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Weighting is needed to see which is false. Contradiction alone does not settle anything because it is symmetric. Regarding evidence as weighing more than theory, which is needed to make naive Popperism work, is a form of weighting assumed by default.

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Weighting isn't adding apples and oranges , it's adding value_of(n apples) and value_of(m oranges). Everything gets converted to the same type first.

Yes, it's indecisive, but you have to use weighting , so you are stuck wi