Mechanism of Scientific Inertia for Theories

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

It is important to understand what makes a theory that is already part of an agent's mosaic stay in that mosaic. In other words, it is important to know under what conditions such an inertia is possible.

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 accepted theory remains accepted 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 for Theories (Barseghyan-2015)	An accepted theory remains accepted unless replaced by other theories.	2015
The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023)	An accepted theory remains accepted in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements.	2023

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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 for Theories (Barseghyan-2015)	An accepted theory remains accepted unless replaced by other theories.	1 January 2016	22 February 2024
Scientonomy	The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023)	An accepted theory remains accepted in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements.	22 February 2024

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning direct answers to this question:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Date Assessed	Verdict	Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2023-0002	Scientonomy	28 December 2023	Accept new formulations of the first law for theories, norms, and questions that are in tune with the formulation of the first law. Also accept new formulations of the respective rejection theorems - theory rejection, norm rejection, and question rejection.	22 January 2024	Accepted	During the 2024 workshop, the bulk of the discussion centered around the inclusion of the first law for norms and norm rejection theorem in the set of formulations to be accepted. Paul Patton contended that norm employment in general had not been demonstrated to be lawful beyond method employment, and our basic formulations should instead concern norm acceptance, which is patently lawful. He argued that the formulations should be modified to pertain either to methods only or to norm acceptance. It was decided that if the community were to remain uncomfortable with accepting Pandey’s new formulations, a revote would likely also need to be taken on Rawleigh’s Sciento-2022-0002, given that the issue of norm employment was also highlighted in discussions of that modification. After extensive discussion, Barseghyan suggested that the first law for norms would only apply to situations where behavior was norm-guided to begin with, which would skirt the difficulty that faces even behavioural psychologists of determining whether human behaviour in general is lawful. The majority of the community was comfortable with this workaround, and the modification was ultimately accepted with over 2/3rds majority assenting, with 11/14 votes to accept (although 1 voter voted to reject the modification and 2 voted to keep it open).

Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023).

The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023) states: "An accepted theory remains accepted in the mosaic unless replaced by other elements."

According to this formulation of the first law for theories, an accepted theory remains accepted unless replaced by other epistemic elements that become part of the agent's mosaic. In principle, these new elements themselves need not be theories. In the simplest scenario, a theory is being replaced by another theory answering the same questions. This includes cases when a theory is being replaced by its own negation. However, the law also allows for more complex scenarios. These include the replacement of a theory by an answer to a different question, the replacement involving the rejection of the question itself, as well as a replacement by a higher-order theory.1pp. 29-37

Related Topics

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

• Mechanism of Scientific Inertia for Normative Theories