How Does Veritula Work?

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Zelalem Mekonnen’s avatar
Zelalem Mekonnen revised 8 days ago·#1950
Show idea #1935Show idea #18974th of 4 versions leading to #1970 (13 total)

If I understand Veritula correctly, we first start with an idea. We accept that idea as true until it is criticized. The idea is considered problematic until all criticism is resolved. Since the goal is to live a rational life, we would seek to resolve the problems within the idea before we act on it. We don't submit bulk ideas or criticisms. Ideas (including criticisms), even if related, should generally be submitted separately. Also, avoid duplicate ideas.

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Zelalem Mekonnen, 13 days ago·#1898

What if, at that time, the best idea one has is the false idea?

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Zelalem Mekonnen, 10 days ago·#1936

Say you have an idea, that you take to be true, but at the same time, you understand that that idea has flaws, you haven't come up with a better idea yet, so you act based on this idea.

I guess that's where figuring that out before acting comes in.

Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis HackethalOP, 10 days ago·#1937

Can you give an example of a flawed idea you think is true and want to act on?

PS: You forgot to @mention me. Again, if you want me to get notified, check the section that says ‘Replying to’ above the textarea when you write the comment. If it doesn’t list me, @mention me.

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Zelalem Mekonnen, 3 days ago·#1959

The reframing of an idea with criticism being problematic instead of false solves this. Because now I’m not acting based on a false idea but a problematic idea.

Criticized1oustanding criticism
Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis HackethalOP, 3 days ago·#1960

I don’t think that solves it because one shouldn’t act on a problematic idea either. And falseness can still be the reason an idea is problematic in the first place.

So, please give an example.

Criticism of #1959
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Zelalem Mekonnen revised 3 days ago·#1967
Show idea #1961Show idea #19612nd of 2 versions leading to #1970 (2 total)

The current city I live in. I have outstanding criticisms about it. But I still live here.

Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis HackethalOP revised 3 days ago·#1970

The mere idea ‘continue living in city X’ may have pending criticisms. But so might the idea ‘leave X’. Maybe leaving is too expensive right now, or you’d have to find a new job and you like your job more than you want to leave, etc. In which case there could be a third idea: ‘At some point I’d like to leave X, but for right now that’s too expensive and too cumbersome, so staying in X for another year is fine.’ And that idea may not have any pending criticisms.

Does that make sense?

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Zelalem Mekonnen, 3 days ago·#1975

It does. But wouldn't that explain away the problem itself? I guess understanding and moving the problem into the future where I might be better suited to solve it is a good idea. So now I am acting on an explanation that solves the problem tentatively.

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Dennis HackethalOP, 3 days ago·#1976

It’s just an example. We’re not actually trying to solve the problem of where you want to live. We’re trying to understand how Veritula works.

Another example is physics. The idea ‘Newtonian physics is the true explanation of gravity’ has pending criticisms. For all we know, it’s false. But the idea ‘As an architect, I use Newtonian physics to make calculations because it’s simpler than general relativity and gives nearly identical results on earth’ may have no pending criticisms. So it’s rational for the architect to go with Newtonian physics.

The architect isn’t moving the problem into the future. Finding the true explanation of gravity was never his problem. He’s picking the best tool for the job, today.

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#1976
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#1950