I’m very pleased to see that the LessWrong team is thinking about these kinds of topics.
I just wanted to add a few more thoughts on this topic myself.
I suspect that one important aspect of creating a new paradigm is characterising the previous paradigm and its underlying assumptions. Often once these assumptions are stated out loud, it becomes clearer where they might break down.
Another important aspect of allowing a new paradigm to form is having a space where it can form. This can often be quite difficult as many people may be mostly happy with the existing spaces that work within the paradigm or at least not unhappy enough to want to join something new.
There’s also the problem that people who disagree with the paradigm might want to take it all kinds of different directions, preventing any from building critical mass. When an existing paradigm has many possible issues that you could focus on, there’s something of an art in picking off an area that contains a group of sufficiently important and compelling differences, which also has a certain level of coherence such that you can explain the value of what you’re doing to other people without them being confused.
I’m very pleased to see that the LessWrong team is thinking about these kinds of topics.
I just wanted to add a few more thoughts on this topic myself.
I suspect that one important aspect of creating a new paradigm is characterising the previous paradigm and its underlying assumptions. Often once these assumptions are stated out loud, it becomes clearer where they might break down.
Another important aspect of allowing a new paradigm to form is having a space where it can form. This can often be quite difficult as many people may be mostly happy with the existing spaces that work within the paradigm or at least not unhappy enough to want to join something new.
There’s also the problem that people who disagree with the paradigm might want to take it all kinds of different directions, preventing any from building critical mass. When an existing paradigm has many possible issues that you could focus on, there’s something of an art in picking off an area that contains a group of sufficiently important and compelling differences, which also has a certain level of coherence such that you can explain the value of what you’re doing to other people without them being confused.