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Diversity, Ability, and Expertise in Epistemic Communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Patrick Grim ,
Daniel J. Singer ,
Aaron Bramson ,
Bennett Holman ,
Sean McGeehan  and
William J. Berger
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Abstract

The Hong and Page ‘diversity trumps ability’ result has been used to argue for the more general claim that a diverse set of agents is epistemically superior to a comparable group of experts. Here we extend Hong and Page’s model to landscapes of different degrees of randomness and demonstrate the sensitivity of the ‘diversity trumps ability’ result. This analysis offers a more nuanced picture of how diversity, ability, and expertise may relate. Although models of this sort can indeed be suggestive for diversity policies, we advise against interpreting such results overly broadly.

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Philosophy of Science , Volume 86 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 98 - 123
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Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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