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Authors: L.S. Wilder
Cited by: 0

Abstract

For any field, there exists a time after which the minimum knowledge required to contributetakes longer to acquire than a human life allows. I argue this threshold exists given only twoassumptions: that knowledge accumulates, and that humans are finite. I then examine proposedsolutions—AI curation, abstraction, cognitive enhancement—and argue they introduce a second-order problem: the mechanisms that lower the barrier also determine what knowledge survives.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Epistemology Ethics and Metaphysics Scientific Research and Philosophical Inquiry Research Science and Academia

Publication details

Journal / source
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Publication date
8 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint