Archive - Epistemic Infrastructure

Moving to a new place... also on substack

Apr 8 •

November 2023

Framing Infrastructure

Framing is the first step of epistemic infrastructure: setting up the problem that needs to be solved. What counts as a good problem set up? First we…

Nov 15, 2023 •

Physics is Toy Science

Physics is Toy Science. It is by far the science with the simplest phenomena and the richest bounty of simplification opportunities, yielding enormous…

Nov 6, 2023 •

October 2023

Epistemic Infrastructure Manifesto

When you need to move merchandise, people, armies across the land, you find yourself constantly confronted with infrastructure problems: How to cross…

Oct 30, 2023 •

January 2023

Lost in Innovation: The Case of Phlogiston

Innovation and progress make the world a better place. They unlock new possibilities, correct past mistakes, and realize untapped potential. It’s not a…

Jan 20, 2023 •

Confusing the ideal for the necessary

I had many meetings that day, and a lot of managing issues to attend, so I found myself thinking “I just can’t get any research done today”. It was not…

Jan 16, 2023 •

The special nature of special relativity

I honestly thought that both theories of relativity were theories of gravitation. Special and general relativity, the latter being the generalized…

Jan 9, 2023 •

Nothing New: Productive Reframing

In a comment on my last post, someone deplored the tendency of LW bloggers to rediscover ideas of famous philosophers and pretend that they discovered…

Jan 7, 2023 •

Opportunity Cost Blackmail

If you are utterly powerless, with no money, skills, status, or friends, survival already takes all your time and energy. Yet I’m not in that situation…

Jan 2, 2023 •

December 2022

Proof as mere strong evidence

Proofs at first exude a strong aroma of certainty. On closer inspection though, more subtle notes emerge. Despite the dreams of formalists, the…

Dec 14, 2022 •

Confusing the goal and the path

Say you are working on formulating a new scientific theory. You’re not there yet, but you broadly know what you want: a simple theory that powerfully…

Dec 12, 2022 •

Formalization as suspension of intuition

While reading Bachelard (one of the greatest philosophers of science of all time), I fell upon this fascinating passage: From now on an axiomatic…

Dec 11, 2022 •

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