It seems like a lot of commenters here are under the impression that the "two paper rule" (if someone says you should read the literature in field X, ask them for the two best papers in that field they can think of, and if those aren't impressive then don't bother looking further) is a proposal of Bryan Caplan, who wrote the OP here.

That is incorrect. The two-paper rule is Noah Smith's, and Bryan Caplan is disagreeing with it.

(It's scarcely possible to read any of Caplan's post without realising that; I conclude that many commenters here have not bothered to read the OP before commenting.)