Errors are robustly tamed in cumulative knowledge processes.

ABSTRACT: As knowledge accumulates in science and society in a distributed fashion, erroneous derivations can be introduced into the corpus of knowledge. Such derivations can compromise the validity of any units of knowledge that rely on them in the future. Can societal knowledge maintain some level of integrity given simple distributed error-checking mechanisms? In this paper, we investigate the following formulation of the question: assuming that a constant fraction of the new derivations is wrong, is it possible for simple error-checking mechanisms that apply when a new unit of knowledge is derived to maintain the integrity of the corpus of knowledge? This question was introduced by Ben-Eliezer et al. ["Is this correct? Let's check!" in 14th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conferen

SUBMITTER: Brandenberger A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11804617 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature