Progressive vs Degenerative Traditions

The distinction between progressive and degenerative traditions replaces the binary of true versus false. A tradition cannot be declared correct or incorrect from some neutral vantage. It can be compared with its competitors along the dimension Laudan's framework makes operational: whether it is growing to meet new evidence or shrinking to avoid it. Progressive traditions acknowledge their anomalies, modify their core commitments where necessary, and develop theoretical resources that expand their problem-solving capacity. Degenerative traditions suppress anomalies, redefine them as non-problems, or retreat to core commitments that preserve coherence at the cost of relevance. The distinction is the framework's primary diagnostic instrument, and applying it to the AI discourse reveals that both the triumphalist and elegist traditions show mixed patterns — each progressive in some directions, degenerative in others.