Do you think it is possible to ever verify this hypothesis? How do you envision this hypothesis should affect practice? If it can’t be verified, then is it wise to let it affect practice? If so, to what extent?
I’ve seen the hypothesis go from a mere possibility to almost a certainty in your descriptions of the hypothesis. In your thread you describe it like this:
“Based on Sujato Bhikkhu’s work which points to the Samyutta Nikaya as possibly being the oldest layer of discourses…”
But in your linked video you seem to suggest this hypothesis is now a conclusion that has not been satisfactorily refuted by anyone. Treating it as a possibility is very different from treating it as a conclusion that others need to convincingly refute.
How do hypothesis like this, which have no quantifiable estimation of probability and little to know possibility of future conclusive knowing, go from mere possibility to a conclusion of knowledge that needs to be refuted? What affects should/does this have on practice?
