AI tools are making the world look weird • Hacker News Board

Re: AI tools are making the world look weird

#201

Post by lmm » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 12:23 AM UTC

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #61

lmm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have yet to see the prize for chemistry awarded for research that does not reproduce. Maybe, but e.g. Millikan's prize for physics was on the basis of results that appear to have been at least partially fabricated.

Was it? I thought Millikan's measurement had a minor error from an incorrect viscosity of air, and several other researchers' subsequent measurements were fabricated to agree with Millikan's.

That also happened, but there are suspicious patterns in Millikan's data considered in isolation.

Re: AI tools are making the world look weird

#202

Post by bonoboTP » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 11:56 AM UTC

adwn wrote: post #125

adwn wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t think all of it is shallow, especially given the format: the book is mostly a prose re-writing of the author’s own peer-reviewed anthropology scientific papers. That's not the issue. The replication crisis is the phenomenon that many scientific results and conclusions which originate from serious, peer-reviewed research, couldn't be replicated by other researchers, and sometimes not even by the original sci…

No idea why this is getting downvoted. Everything I wrote is true and directly on topic. Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis

People are very sensitive to sensing politically threatening undertones in any take. If you truly aren't sure why: it's probably related to certain funding decisions and certain discourse around certain academic fields.

Re: AI tools are making the world look weird

#203

Post by bonoboTP » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 11:59 AM UTC

adwn wrote: post #181

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to call you out for your post but I think this is a result of the 'just asking questions' culture we live in where asking questions online has been weaponized/agenda driven. Even the person asking the question admits their question could be interpreted this way first thing: "and I don't mean this combatively)" and even their caveat these days is sadly easily interpreted as 'I'm just asking questions'. Just look a…

> […] 'just asking questions' […] That's not the case here. Non-replicable results from studies in the social sciences are a very real, very frequent phenomenon, and the first question to ask when seeing a claim about a significant effect should be "Has this been replicated?" . Being sceptical (without being overly negative or critical) is not "toxic" as you call it, instead it protects us all from becoming trapped i…

The vast majority of people have their conclusions first and seek a prestigious stamp of approval for it second. Triply especially if it is in any way socially, culturally, politically relevant. That's what you have to keep in mind first and foremost.