Epistemically, invisible alpha is a retreat from the observed absence of visible alpha, saving the hypothesis by redefining it in just the ways required to evade the evidence.
In the end, reality itself has always been the ultimate arbiter of any claim to truth or authority.
This is the big step up.
Instrumentally, an invisible alpha provides a check on the power of the actual alpha. A king a few centuries ago may have had absolute power, but he still couldn’t simply act against what people understood to be the will of the actual alpha (God).
Epistemically, invisible alpha is a retreat from the observed absence of visible alpha, saving the hypothesis by redefining it in just the ways required to evade the evidence.
This is the big step up.
Instrumentally, an invisible alpha provides a check on the power of the actual alpha. A king a few centuries ago may have had absolute power, but he still couldn’t simply act against what people understood to be the will of the actual alpha (God).