Modification:Sciento-2018-0018

Accept the new dynamic law of compatibility which specifies how exactly two elements become to be considered compatible or incompatible within a mosaic.

The modification was suggested to Scientonomy community by Patrick Fraser and Ameer Sarwar on 28 December 2018.1 The modification was accepted on 9 October 2021.

Preamble

TODO: Add a preamble

Modification

Theories To Accept

• The Law of Compatibility (Fraser-Sarwar-2018): If a pair of elements satisfies the compatibility criteria employed at the time, it becomes compatible within the mosaic; if it does not, it is deemed incompatible; and if assessment is inconclusive, the pair can become compatible, incompatible, or its status may be unknown.

• The Law of Compatibility (Fraser-Sarwar-2018) is Not Tautological (Fraser-Sarwar-2018): The law of compatibility suggested by Fraser and Sarwar in 2018 is not tautological.

Questions Answered

This modification attempts to answer the following question(s):

• Mechanism of Compatibility: Under what conditions can two elements coexist in the same mosaic?
• Tautological Status of The Law of Compatibility (Fraser-Sarwar-2018): Is the law of compatibility suggested by Fraser and Sarwar in 2018 a tautology?

Verdict

The modification was accepted on 9 October 2021. It was agreed that the "modification provides a great addition to the current body of scientonomic knowledge"^c1 as the law offers "a dynamic account of compatibility"^c2 and "allows for a diachronic study of compatibility".^c3 The law was praised for its non-tautological nature, since it "forbids a number of logically conceivable scenarios".^c4 While finding the law acceptable, one of the commentators raised an important question for future scientonomic research: do we even need a separate law of compatibility? Specifically they asked: "Is assessment for compatibility with other elements of the mosaic really conceptually distinct from the process of assessment for theory acceptance, which is already covered by other scientonomic laws?"^c5 On this view, "the issue of the conceptual separability of theory compatibility and theory acceptance, and thus the need for two parallel laws, remains an open question that warrants further investigation".^c6

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