Boudry, Maarten and Hofhuis, Steije (2022) On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Some belief systems postulate intelligent agents that are deliberately evading detection and thus sabotaging any possible investigation into their existence. These belief systems have the remarkable feature that they predict an absence of evidence in their favor, and even the discovery of counterevidence. Such ‘epistemic black holes’, as we call them, crop up in different guises and in different domains: history, psychology, religion. Because of their radical underdetermination by evidence and their extreme resilience to counterevidence, they develop and evolve in certain predictable ways. Shedding light on how epistemic black holes function can protect us against their allure.
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Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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Keywords: | belief systems; irrationality, conspiracy theory; epistemology; cultural evolution; religion; psychoanalysis; witchcraft | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Epistemology Specific Sciences > Cultural Evolution |
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Depositing User: | Maarten Maarten Boudry | |||||||||
Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2023 18:29 | |||||||||
Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2023 18:29 | |||||||||
Item ID: | 21697 | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Epistemology Specific Sciences > Cultural Evolution |
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Date: | 5 July 2022 | |||||||||
URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21697 |
Available Versions of this Item
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The Truth Is (Still) out There. On the Epistemology and Cultural Dynamics of Conspiracy Beliefs. (deposited 15 Aug 2020 03:26)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 12 Aug 2022 14:38)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 30 Oct 2022 18:42)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 31 Jan 2023 18:29)
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- On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 29 Apr 2023 12:29)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 31 Jan 2023 18:29)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 30 Oct 2022 18:42)
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On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve. (deposited 12 Aug 2022 14:38)
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