Special Debate

A highly specialized, often technical debate conducted within a specific professional, academic, or subcultural community, using its own unique standards, terminology, and forms of evidence. To outsiders, it sounds like esoteric bickering.

Example: "The special debate in the theoretical physics seminar was over the holographic principle's implications for a specific black hole entropy calculation. To the room, it was a gripping, high-stakes intellectual duel. To the janitor mopping outside, it sounded like two wizards arguing in Elvish."

by AbzuInExile January 31, 2026

Special Science

A term in philosophy of science referring to sciences that deal with specific, higher-level domains (like psychology, economics, geology) which have their own irreducible laws and explanations, even though they are ultimately grounded in physics. They are "special" because their phenomena require their own vocabulary and causal stories.

Example: "Trying to explain an economic recession solely with quantum physics is a category error. You need the special science of economics, with its own rules about supply, demand, and investor psychology. The recession 'supervenes' on particles, but isn't explained by them."

by AbzuInExile January 31, 2026