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Single Idea 16859

[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 6. Inference in Perception ]

Full Idea

In almost every act of our perceiving faculties, observation and inference are intimately blended. What we are said to observe is usually a compound result, of which one-tenth may be observation, and the remaining nine-tenths inference.

Gist of Idea

Most perception is one-tenth observation and nine-tenths inference

Source

John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843], 4.1.2), quoted by Peter Lipton - Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd) 11 'The scientific'

Book Ref

Lipton,Peter: 'Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd ed)' [Routledge 2004], p.204

A Reaction

We seem to think that his kind of observation is a great realisation of twentieth century thought, but thoughtful empiricists spotted it much earlier.

The 51 ideas from 'System of Logic'

5201 Mill says logic and maths is induction based on a very large number of instances [Mill, by Ayer]
9360 If two black and two white objects in practice produced five, what colour is the fifth one? [Lewis,CI on Mill]
4944 Mill says names have denotation but not connotation [Mill, by Kripke]
7762 Proper names are just labels for persons or objects, and the meaning is the object [Mill, by Lycan]
8625 What physical facts could underlie 0 or 1, or very large numbers? [Frege on Mill]
12411 Mill is too imprecise, and is restricted to simple arithmetic [Kitcher on Mill]
5656 Empirical theories of arithmetic ignore zero, limit our maths, and need probability to get started [Frege on Mill]
17086 Surprisingly, empiricists before Mill ignore explanation, which seems to transcend experience [Mill, by Ruben]
17091 Explanation is fitting of facts into ever more general patterns of regularity [Mill, by Ruben]
8345 A cause is the total of all the conditions which inevitably produce the result [Mill]
10391 Causes and conditions are not distinct, because we select capriciously from among them [Mill]
17895 Combining two distinct assertions does not necessarily lead to a single 'complex proposition' [Mill]
11156 The essence is that without which a thing can neither be, nor be conceived to be [Mill]
9888 Mill mistakes particular applications as integral to arithmetic, instead of general patterns [Dummett on Mill]
9794 There are no such things as numbers in the abstract [Mill]
9796 Things possess the properties of numbers, as quantity, and as countable parts [Mill]
9795 Numbers have generalised application to entities (such as bodies or sounds) [Mill]
9798 Different parcels made from three pebbles produce different actual sensations [Mill]
9797 '2 pebbles and 1 pebble' and '3 pebbles' name the same aggregation, but different facts [Mill]
9799 3=2+1 presupposes collections of objects ('Threes'), which may be divided thus [Mill]
9801 Numbers must be assumed to have identical units, as horses are equalised in 'horse-power' [Mill]
9800 Arithmetic is based on definitions, and Sums of equals are equal, and Differences of equals are equal [Mill]
16845 The whole theory of induction rests on causes [Mill]
14547 The strict cause is the total positive and negative conditions which ensure the consequent [Mill]
14545 A cause is an antecedent which invariably and unconditionally leads to a phenomenon [Mill]
12190 Necessity is what will be, despite any alternative suppositions whatever [Mill]
16805 Causal inference is by spotting either Agreements or Differences [Mill, by Lipton]
16835 The Methods of Difference and of Agreement are forms of inference to the best explanation [Mill, by Lipton]
16843 Mill's methods (Difference,Agreement,Residues,Concomitance,Hypothesis) don't nail induction [Mill, by Lipton]
9806 Whatever is made up of parts is made up of parts of those parts [Mill]
9802 Numbers denote physical properties of physical phenomena [Mill]
9803 We can't easily distinguish 102 horses from 103, but we could arrange them to make it obvious [Mill]
9804 Arithmetical results give a mode of formation of a given number [Mill]
9805 12 is the cube of 1728 means pebbles can be aggregated a certain way [Mill]
9417 What are the fewest propositions from which all natural uniformities could be inferred? [Mill]
8377 Causation is just invariability of succession between every natural fact and a preceding fact [Mill]
16860 Inductive generalisation is more reliable than one of its instances; they can't all be wrong [Mill]
16859 Most perception is one-tenth observation and nine-tenths inference [Mill]
9079 We can focus our minds on what is common to a whole class, neglecting other aspects [Mill]
9080 General conceptions are a necessary preliminary to Induction [Mill]
9078 The study of the nature of Abstract Ideas does not belong to logic, but to a different science [Mill]
9081 We don't recognise comparisons by something in our minds; the concepts result from the comparisons [Mill]
9082 Clear concepts result from good observation, extensive experience, and accurate memory [Mill]
9624 Numbers are a very general property of objects [Mill, by Brown,JR]
4773 Mill's regularity theory of causation is based on an effect preceded by a conjunction of causes [Mill, by Psillos]
8741 Numbers must be of something; they don't exist as abstractions [Mill]
4775 In Mill's 'Method of Agreement' cause is the common factor in a range of different cases [Mill, by Psillos]
4776 In Mill's 'Method of Difference' the cause is what stops the effect when it is removed [Mill, by Psillos]
10427 All names are names of something, real or imaginary [Mill]
22623 Necessity can only mean what must be, without conditions of any kind [Mill]
8742 The only axioms needed are for equality, addition, and successive numbers [Mill, by Shapiro]