Mechanism of Scientific Inertia for Epistemic Elements

What makes the epistemic elements of an agent's mosaic continue to remain in the mosaic?

Explaining how epistemic elements enter into an agent's mosaic is one thing, explaining how they remain in the mosaic is another. The fact that something became part of the mosaic doesn't necessarily mean it should stay there. Thus, the question is what it is that makes a mosaic preserve its elements through time and under which conditions exactly this inertia ends.

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan in 2015. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is:

• An element of the mosaic remains in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record of the Question

Here is the complete acceptance record of this question (it includes all the instances when the question was accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by a community):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	1 January 2016	This is when the community accepted its first answer to the question, The First Law (Barseghyan-2015), which indicates that the questions is itself considered legitimate.	Yes

All Direct Answers

The following direct answers to the question have been suggested:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
The First Law (Barseghyan-2015)	An element of the mosaic remains in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements.	2015

If a direct answer to this question is missing, please click here to add it.

Accepted Direct Answers

The following theories have been accepted as direct answers to this question:

Community	Theory	Formulation	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	The First Law (Barseghyan-2015)	An element of the mosaic remains in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements.	1 January 2016

Suggested Modifications

There have been no suggested modifications concerning direct answers to this question.

Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is The First Law (Barseghyan-2015).

The First Law (Barseghyan-2015) states: "An element of the mosaic remains in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements."

The following passage from The Laws of Scientific Change summarizes the gist of the law:

According to the first law, any element of the mosaic of accepted theories and employed methods remains in the mosaic except insofar as it is overthrown by another element or elements. Basically, the law assumes that there is certain inertia in the scientific mosaic: once in the mosaic, elements remain in the mosaic until they get replaced by other elements. It is reasonable therefore to call it the law of scientific inertia.1p. 123

Related Topics

This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Scientific Change. It has the following sub-topic(s):

• Mechanism of Scientific Inertia for Questions
• Mechanism of Scientific Inertia for Theories