A common delusion among grandiose schizophrenics in institutions is that they are themselves psychiatrists. Consider a particularly underfunded mental hospital, in which the majority of people who “know” themselves to be psychiatrists are wrong. No examination of the evidence will convince them otherwise. No matter how overwhelming, some reason to disbelieve will be found.
Given this, should any amount of evidence suffice to convince you that you are such a psychiatrist?
I am not aware of any resolution to this paradox.
I don’t think there’s a resolution to this kind of thing. “What algorithm produces good epistemics, even though your memories and beliefs may be arbitrarily corrupted?”. In the general case, you can’t do better than approximating normatively correct reasoning as best you can, given the information you have.
Of course, as actual people, we quickly run into the following issue:
The simplest ideal of thinking deals extensively with uncertainty of external facts, but trusts its own reasoning implicitly. Directly imitating this, when your own reasoning is not 100% trustworthy, is a bad plan. Hopefully this sequence will provide some alternatives.
I don’t think there’s a resolution to this kind of thing. “What algorithm produces good epistemics, even though your memories and beliefs may be arbitrarily corrupted?”. In the general case, you can’t do better than approximating normatively correct reasoning as best you can, given the information you have.
Of course, as actual people, we quickly run into the following issue: