Interesting example, but I still feel like Bob doesn’t need to contradict Alice’s known beliefs.
If Bob found a page from Alice’s notebook that said “time and space are relative,” he could update his understanding to realize that the theory of Newtonian physics he’s been using is only an approximation, and not the real physics of the universe. Then, he could try to come up with upper bounds on how inaccurate Newtonian physics is, by thinking about his past experiences or doing new experiments. Even so, he could still keep using Newtonian physics, with the understanding that it’s approximate, and may not always predict things correctly, without contradicting Alice’s known beliefs, or separating Alice’s beliefs from his own.
I might be missing the point though. Are you implying that, in this example, Bob is not smart enough to realize that Newtonian physics is only an approximation after learning about Alice’s beliefs?
Interesting example, but I still feel like Bob doesn’t need to contradict Alice’s known beliefs.
If Bob found a page from Alice’s notebook that said “time and space are relative,” he could update his understanding to realize that the theory of Newtonian physics he’s been using is only an approximation, and not the real physics of the universe. Then, he could try to come up with upper bounds on how inaccurate Newtonian physics is, by thinking about his past experiences or doing new experiments. Even so, he could still keep using Newtonian physics, with the understanding that it’s approximate, and may not always predict things correctly, without contradicting Alice’s known beliefs, or separating Alice’s beliefs from his own.
I might be missing the point though. Are you implying that, in this example, Bob is not smart enough to realize that Newtonian physics is only an approximation after learning about Alice’s beliefs?