[HN Gopher] The David Peters Problem
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       The David Peters Problem
        
       Author : apsec112
       Score  : 15 points
       Date   : 2020-07-26 07:29 UTC (15 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (tetzoo.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (tetzoo.com)
        
       | geofft wrote:
       | I don't know anything about paleontology or zoology, but this
       | general class of problem resonates with me. What do you do about
       | people who are good at saying things confidently and quickly
       | while you, in accordance with the norms of reliable science, want
       | to say things slowly and tentatively after lots of research?
       | 
       | This is the old "A lie can get halfway around the world before
       | the truth gets its pants on" problem, but exacerbated, I think,
       | by modern communication. While it's genuinely good for science
       | and for human knowledge that anyone can type up something on
       | their blog and have it instantly readable to everyone around the
       | world, and while it does open the possibility of a more
       | meritocratic approach to science than journals controlled by
       | established academics, we haven't really figured out how to apply
       | our own skeptical eye to everything that we see in place of the
       | traditional systems of review. And while others in the community
       | technically can respond with "I'm not sure this is true yet, but
       | my gut says it might not be, I'll spend a few days investigating
       | it and let people know," it's unlikely to get anywhere near as
       | much attention as the original flashy claim.
        
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       (page generated 2020-07-26 23:00 UTC)