Empirical vs. Mathematical Joints of Nature

By Elizabeth @ 2024-07-02T22:43 (+12)

This is a crosspost, probably from LessWrong. Try viewing it there.

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SummaryBot @ 2024-07-03T14:21 (+1)

Executive summary: Paradigm formation in mathematical fields like chaos theory and agent foundations differs from scientific paradigms, focusing more on resolving conceptual confusion than predicting empirical phenomena.

Key points:

  1. Paradigms in math-like fields are sets of methods for solving problems, rather than frameworks for predicting reality.
  2. Chaos theory may unify understanding across diverse systems (e.g., weather, eye movement), similar to plate tectonics in geology.
  3. Agent foundations seeks a formal characterization of agency, analogous to Turing machines defining "effective methods" in computation.
  4. Mathematical paradigms like Turing machines or Shannon's information theory resolve confusion and enable progress without directly predicting phenomena.
  5. The usefulness of chaos theory for improving predictions (e.g., in weather forecasting) remains uncertain and worthy of further investigation.

 

 

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