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> Epistemics > Sourcing > arghXiv:2602.00913

A Lower Bound on the Number of Sources Required to Settle a Question Already Settled

N. Achterberg

Abstract: We establish that the bound does not exist. For any finite set of sources sufficient to settle a question, a participant may request one further source at cost negligible to themselves and unbounded to the respondent. The asymmetry is structural and does not depend on the question. The reverse move, in which the respondent transfers the search to the questioner, is the quaere ipse of arghXiv:2512.11487. It exploits the same asymmetry in the other direction, and at the same cost to whoever is made to do the looking.

Comments:
14 pages, 2 tables. A referee has requested a further source. Response types: /help/response-types.
Subjects:
Sourcing (epist.SRC) (primary class); Credentialism (epist.CRED); General Futility (futil.GEN)
TDC classes:
8.05; 8.12
Cite as:
arghXiv:2602.00913v1 (BibTeX)
Submission history:
From: N. Achterberg [view email]
[v1] Mon, 02 Feb 2026