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Do good explanations have to be true? - Coggle Diagram
Do good explanations have to be true?
What is a good explanation?
How do we measure a good explanation?
Who gets to determine if the explanation is good?
Experts?
The general public?
What is truth?
How can we measure truth?
Empirical evidence
Statistics
Can "truth" change over time?
Who determines if something is true?
Experts?
The general public/the recipient of knowledge?
Political authority?
What is the purpose of an explanation?
To inform?
To educate?
To convince?
To manipulate?
How does the purpose of an explanation change the way we measure its goodness?
Good explanations successfully fulfil their purpose
How does the purpose of an explanation vary in different AOKs?
Natural science: purpose of an explanation is to clarify and inform a natural phenomenon
Good explanations have to be true
Human science: to simplify the human population into one model/representation. To generalize and represent.
The purpose of an explanation in a human science is to generalize a human phenomenon. Therefore simplicity is a part of the purpose
However, simplicity means sacrificing some truth. How to balance "truth" and "understandability"?
Religion: purpose of an explanation in Christianity is to convince the recipient to join the belief system and obey their et of moral codes.
To clarify?