Status of Impossible Abstract Requirements

What happens in situations where an abstract requirement can't be met? What do we do when we would like to keep certain theories but those theories are left in limbo?

Occasionally methods ask us certain requirements which cannot be met. For example, supposing a surgical theories need testing, how would we apply a double blind trial? A surgeon cannot be blinded nor can the patient not know they are being operated on. Surely we do not outright reject surgical theories on the basis they cannot be tested in this way? Do we develop some alternate? Is there an tacit internal agreement between surgeons?

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan, Liron Cohen and Charlotte Brown in 2018. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is:

• A method becomes employed only if it is derivable from a non-empty subset of other elements of the mosaic.

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	8 March 2018	We talked about this during the seminar and came to the conclusion we could not immediately answer the question.	Yes

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Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is The Law of Method Employment (Rawleigh-2022).

Methodology and Methods

The Law of Method Employment (Rawleigh-2022) states: "A method becomes employed only if it is derivable from a non-empty subset of other elements of the mosaic."

This law of method employment is a corollary of Rawleigh's law of norm employment. It implies that, just like the norms of all other types, methods become employed when they are derivable from other elements of the agent's mosaic (such as other theories, other methods, and perhaps even questions). As such, the law preserves most of the content of Sebastien's third law by solving some of the issues inherent in it.

See The Law of Norm Employment (Rawleigh-2022) for a more thorough exposition.

Related Topics

This question is a subquestion of Methodology and Methods.