expand on meaning behind this part:
here’s the issue: “to go fast, go alone; to go far, go together”
this tradeoff can be resolved by combining the above two methodologies
That section seems to be discussing strategies for advancing knowledge and making discoveries, both individually and collectively.
The phrase “to go fast, go alone; to go far, go together” expresses a tradeoff between solo exploration vs group collaboration.
Going fast alone allows an individual to quickly push past the frontier of knowledge without needing to build consensus or educate others along the way. This enables covering more ground rapidly.
But going far together means collaborating with experts across different fields to build consilience. This provides more robust validation through combining evidence from multiple perspectives.
The passage suggests these approaches can be combined by:
Exploring new inferences independently to rapidly advance beyond the frontier.
Then looping back to bridge understanding with experts in each field to explain and ground the discoveries.
This leverages the benefits of both strategies - individual freedom to uncover new ideas, paired with collective diligence in testing and strengthening those ideas.
The result is the ability to go fast in pushing new frontiers, as well as go far in terms of having discoveries meaningfully integrated into the web of human knowledge. The tradeoff is resolved through alternating individual and collaborative phases.
Connect that with why consilience is relevant from the stream
You’re right, the mention of consilience connects directly to the strategy of “going far together” through integrating knowledge across disciplines.
Consilience refers to the linking together of principles and evidence from multiple unrelated fields to strengthen the case for a particular hypothesis or theory.
The stream notes that consilience helps build “weighting of evidence” by connecting the inferences made by “multiple frontier folks” across different domains of expertise.
This is relevant because it provides an empirical basis for validating discoveries that may seem unconventional or unlikely when viewed through the lens of only one field in isolation.
By identifying similar principles discovered by experts across disciplines, consilience allows “learnings/discoveries via wayfinding” to be confirmed without requiring a single person or group to bear the full burden of proof.
The passage argues this interdisciplinary consilience enables individuals pushing the frontiers of knowledge to “go far” in getting their novel ideas accepted. The inferences link together in a web that provides footholds for unconventional discoveries to become integrated into the broader fabric of understanding.
So in summary, consilience facilitates the “go far together” approach of having an individual’s advancements validated and legitimized through interdisciplinary corroboration. This resolves the tradeoff highlighted in the phrase.