[SEQ RERUN] Hug the Query

[MinibearRex]

Today’s post, Hug the Query was originally published on 14 December 2007. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):

The more directly your arguments bear on a question, without intermediate inferences, the more powerful the evidence. We should try to observe evidence that is as near to the original question as possible, so that it screens off as many other arguments as possible.

Discuss the post here (rather than in the comments to the original post).

This post is part of the Rerunning the Sequences series, where we’ll be going through Eliezer Yudkowsky’s old posts in order so that people who are interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was Argument Screens Off Authority, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.

Sequence reruns are a community-driven effort. You can participate by re-reading the sequence post, discussing it here, posting the next day’s sequence reruns post, or summarizing forthcoming articles on the wiki. Go here for more details, or to have meta discussions about the Rerunning the Sequences series.

[shminux]

Another good quote from it:

Just as it is superior to argue physics than credentials, it is also superior to argue physics than rationality.

And by “physics” he means observable evidence (the Wrights’ plane flies), not some equations.