The Burden of Knowledge Argument

The burden of knowledge argument highlights that as a field progresses, there is an increasing amount of information to learn, making it harder for individuals to reach the cutting edge. This is exemplified by the rapid advancement in physics knowledge, where in the past, a first-year PhD student could potentially know more than their professor due to the quickly changing landscape. However, nowadays, due to the vast amount of knowledge accumulated in the field, it is much harder to surpass the knowledge of a professor at an early stage in academic career. This difficulty in reaching the frontiers of knowledge is attributed to the combination of crystallized intelligence, requiring a base of fundamental knowledge, and fluid intelligence, which peaks in the mid-twenties and then declines. The Counterworks argument suggests that as theories advance, it becomes possible to memorize less information, thereby easing the burden of knowledge to some extent.

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