By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 22/08/2026Theory-free inference is a very pragmatic way to approach the world: "I don't need it good, I need it *Thursday*." Scientists burn to know why a molecule stopped you from dying, but you are likely satisfied to not be dead. 39/ 1543
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 22/08/2026What's more, our ability to observe correlations will always race ahead of our understanding of causality, so the power of theory-free inferences pushes out the frontier of things we can act on, beyond the realm of the understood. 40/ 1441
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 22/08/2026It's reasonable to be excited about breakthroughs in theory-free inference. But just like a boomer who thinks buying a house to live in makes them a shrewd real-estate speculator, someone who achieves greatness through theory-free inference runs the risk of missing its limits. 41/ 1562
