Revisions of #750
Contributors: Dennis Hackethal
### Entrenchment↵ Like Karl Popper, I think definitions rarely matter. But sometimes they do. So, just to clarify what I mean by ‘entrenchment’, here are some explanations and examples.↵ ↵ When a conflict is entrenched, it basically means the conflict resists solving. It’s like a barbed hook: pulling on it just causes more damage.↵ ↵ The Cambridge dictionary [defines](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/entrenchment) entrenchment as “the process by which ideas become fixed and cannot be changed”.↵ ↵ The word originally [came](https://www.wordnik.com/words/entrenchment) from the literal fortification of a place through the use of trenches. “[A] position protected by trenches”.↵ ↵ Here are some examples of how physicist David Deutsch uses the word in his book *The Beginning of Infinity*, which contains lots of epistemology. They’re from various chapters and obviously taken out of context, but I think they should still clarify the term (bold emphasis mine):↵ ↵ >Though they are blind optimists, what defines them as utopians is their pessimism that their supposed utopia, or their violent proposals for achieving and **entrenching** it, could ever be improved upon.↵ ↵ And:↵ ↵ >[T]he institutions of science are structured so as to avoid **entrenching** theories […]↵ ↵ And:↵ ↵ >There are also arguments about the stultification of society caused by the **entrenchment** of old people in positions of power; […]↵ ↵ And:↵ ↵ >[W]hat is necessary for progress is to *exclude* ideas that fail to survive criticism, and to prevent their **entrenchment**, and to promote the creation of new ideas.↵ ↵ And:↵ ↵ >[T]he evolutionary pressure is for the psychological damage […] to be deeply **entrenched**, so that the recipients find themselves facing a large emotional cost [for considering deviating from prescribed behavior].↵ ↵ And:↵ ↵ >A Popperian analysis would focus on the fact that Caesar had taken vigorous steps to ensure that he could not be removed *without* violence. And then on the fact that his removal did not rectify, but actually **entrenched**, this progress-suppressing innovation.
Entrenchment
Like Karl Popper, I think definitions rarely matter. But sometimes they do. So, just to clarify what I mean by ‘entrenchment’, here are some explanations and examples.
When a conflict is entrenched, it basically means the conflict resists solving. It’s like a barbed hook: pulling on it just causes more damage.
The Cambridge dictionary defines entrenchment as “the process by which ideas become fixed and cannot be changed”.
The word originally came from the literal fortification of a place through the use of trenches. “[A] position protected by trenches”.
Here are some examples of how physicist David Deutsch uses the word in his book The Beginning of Infinity, which contains lots of epistemology. They’re from various chapters and obviously taken out of context, but I think they should still clarify the term (bold emphasis mine):
Though they are blind optimists, what defines them as utopians is their pessimism that their supposed utopia, or their violent proposals for achieving and entrenching it, could ever be improved upon.
And:
[T]he institutions of science are structured so as to avoid entrenching theories […]
And:
There are also arguments about the stultification of society caused by the entrenchment of old people in positions of power; […]
And:
[W]hat is necessary for progress is to exclude ideas that fail to survive criticism, and to prevent their entrenchment, and to promote the creation of new ideas.
And:
[T]he evolutionary pressure is for the psychological damage […] to be deeply entrenched, so that the recipients find themselves facing a large emotional cost [for considering deviating from prescribed behavior].
And:
A Popperian analysis would focus on the fact that Caesar had taken vigorous steps to ensure that he could not be removed without violence. And then on the fact that his removal did not rectify, but actually entrenched, this progress-suppressing innovation.
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Link to image of barbed hook
3 unchanged lines collapsedWhen a conflict is entrenched, it basically means the conflict resists solving. It’s like abarbed hook:[barbed hook](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/517AGneVrVL._AC_SL1000_.jpg): pulling on it just causes more damage.28 unchanged lines collapsed
3 unchanged lines collapsed
When a conflict is entrenched, it basically means the conflict resists solving. It’s like a barbed hook: pulling on it just causes more damage.
28 unchanged lines collapsed
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5 unchanged lines collapsedThe CambridgedictionaryDictionary [defines](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/entrenchment) entrenchment as “the process by which ideas become fixed and cannot be changed”.26 unchanged lines collapsed
5 unchanged lines collapsed
The Cambridge Dictionary defines entrenchment as “the process by which ideas become fixed and cannot be changed”.
26 unchanged lines collapsed