This idea must die

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This reference is used to annotate texts at SuperMemo Guru by Piotr Wozniak

For Christmas 2018, I got a nice gift: a book listing all ideas that are supposed to die ("This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress"). The book is jam-packed with outlandish claims and theories that call for a deeper scrutiny of some scientific concepts. I do not read paper texts any more. However, I make some exceptions when I am away from the computer (e.g. while contemplating nature on a sunny park bench, while sweating in sauna, etc.).

My early reading of the book has delivered a couple of jolts. Some of the ideas that are at the core of my thinking about the brain have been called into question. I will probably write about some of the wrong propositions in the book. Most of all, I keep saying Wrong models have value, and we should retire nothing.

Examples of ideas criticized in the book:


Quoted excerpts come from the following reference:

Book: This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress

Backlink: Oliver Scott Curry is wrong about associationism