Reflections on Rat Fest ’25
Showing only ideas leading to #2052.
See full discussion·See most recent related ideasLog in or sign up to participate in this discussion.
With an account, you can revise, criticize, and comment on ideas.Discussions can branch out indefinitely. You may need to scroll sideways.
Science writer John Horgan wrote his own article about his experience at Rat Fest:
My Weekend at “Rat Fest” — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, OCTOBER 4, 2025. “It feels a little cult-y.” That’s how I respond when Logan Chipkin asks what I think of “Rat Fest.” Let me back up a bit: Last summer, I get an email from someone named Logan Chipkin, who founded something called the Conjecture Institute . He wants my permission to use
Criticized14*
Dennis HackethalOP·#2052··Criticism
A key tenet of critical rationalism is that knowledge is tentative, improvable, because all of us are fallible, we can never be sure we’re right. But Rat Festers cite Popper and Deutsch as if they are infallible.
My impression is that, when they cite Popper and Deutsch, they consider their citations unproblematic, ie background knowledge shared with other attendees – to an outsider, that can look like an appeal to authority.
Linked to by #2053