That Which Cannot Be Poked With A Stick Is The Mind-Killer

According to LessWrong, two houses of rationalists face contrasting debates. In the Purple House, Alice, Bob, and Charlie argue about prison abolition—citing studies on crime, morality, and prisoner rights. But they can't test whether eliminating prisons would actually increase crime, so the debate dissolves into methodological quibbles. No resolution. In the Orange House, Deanna and Ethan simply ask: is the shortcut behind the Walgreens faster? They go time both routes. Twenty minutes later, they have an answer, update their beliefs, and even refine their methodology when they spot confounding variables. The post's argument: the mind-killer isn't politics—it's untestability. Testable questions resolve quickly; untestable ones loop endlessly. The fix: test what you can rigorously, accept uncertainty where you can't, and stop expecting another study to close an unfalsifiable gap.

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