I have an idea that has all the trappings of a crackpot idea. It would bring me fame and glory if it panned out. I don't know exactly how it will work. I never talk to anyone about it, because I'm afraid they'll steal it or laugh at it. I have no solid rational argument that I will succeed; it's just a strong hunch.
What should a person do in cases like this? Read up on the field that the idea is in (I'm not an expert, or even a serious student, as you could probably guess), and try to find an argument showing that the idea won't work? Try to develop the idea further and further until it falls apart?
My advice is to first become an expert in the field that the idea is in. Once you do, you might see an obvious argument against your idea, and if not, you'll have a better chance of developing your idea to fruition, and also have the language to describe the idea in a way that other experts will take it seriously.
If after you become an expert, you still don't see an obvious argument against your idea, post it to some public forum where other experts hang out, to see if someone else can see an obvious argument against it. (At that point your idea shouldn't be so wrong that someone will laugh at it, and if someone does steal it at least you have proof that you came up with it first.)
If nobody else can see an obvious argument against your idea, then try to develop the idea further and further until it falls apart.
Becoming an expert is a pain. I think the best route is to find someone who's already an expert who you can trust. I suppose this could lead to bad things depending on the idea, but I don't find that likely
Today's post, The Crackpot Offer was originally published on 08 September 2007. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
If you make a mistake, don't excuse it or pat yourself on the back for thinking originally; acknowledge you made a mistake and move on. If you become invested in your own mistakes, you'll stay stuck on bad ideas.
Discuss the post here (rather than in the comments to the original post).
This post is part of the Rerunning the Sequences series, where we'll be going through Eliezer Yudkowsky's old posts in order so that people who are interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was Anchoring and Adjustment, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.
Sequence reruns are a community-driven effort. You can participate by re-reading the sequence post, discussing it here, posting the next day's sequence reruns post, or summarizing forthcoming articles on the wiki. Go here for more details, or to have meta discussions about the Rerunning the Sequences series.