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Epistemology

Map

Arrows point from what you learn first to what it opens. Right-click a concept (or press and hold it) for its lessons and stories.

  • Proven to depth123
  • Open
  • Locked
  • Comes back deeper
BeliefBig claims need big evidenceChecking a sourceConfirmation biasDegrees of confidenceEvidenceExpertiseGood reasonsIllusionIndependent sourcesIntellectual humilityKnowing without certaintyKnowledgeMemoryPerceptionReliable sourceScepticismSources of knowledgeStrong and weak evidenceSurvivorship biasSuspending judgementTestimonyUpdating beliefsWishful thinkingHasty generalisationIn Logic

Learning path

In the order the concepts build on each other.

  1. BeliefReadyThinking that something is true. A belief can be true or false, and feeling sure of it doesn't make it true.
  2. KnowledgeLockedA true belief that you have good reasons for. A lucky guess can be right without being knowledge.Opens after: Belief
  3. Good reasonsLockedA good reason for a belief connects it to the truth, so it would be missing if the belief were false. Hoping and hunches are not good reasons.Opens after: Knowledge
  4. TestimonyLockedWhat other people tell you, by speaking, writing or showing - by far the biggest source of what we know. It works when each link in the chain knew what they passed on.Opens after: Knowledge
  5. EvidenceLockedAnything that makes a claim more likely to be true, or less likely. It lets us know about things we didn't see happen, and it makes a claim likely, not certain.Opens after: Good reasons
  6. PerceptionLockedTaking in the world through your senses - sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste - the first source of knowledge. It works best close up, in good conditions.Opens after: Good reasons
  7. Reliable sourceLockedA source is anyone or anything that tells you something; a reliable one is usually right. Ask: were they in a place to know, have they been right before, do they have a reason to mislead you?Opens after: Testimony
  8. Wishful thinkingLockedBelieving something because you want it to be true (or fearing it because you don't). The want would be there either way, so it isn't a reason.Opens after: Good reasons
  9. Confirmation biasLockedNoticing and remembering the evidence that fits what you already believe, and missing the evidence that doesn't. Everyone does it; keeping count of every case helps.Opens after: Evidence
  10. ExpertiseLockedAn expert knows a great deal about one field, so their word is a good reason to believe - inside that field. When most experts agree, that is strong evidence.Opens after: Reliable source
  11. IllusionLockedWhen your senses tell you something that isn't so, even in good conditions - a bent pencil in water, a mirage. You can catch one by checking in another way.Opens after: Perception
  12. MemoryLockedKeeping what you once perceived, so you can use it later - a source of knowledge. But memory rebuilds things each time, and a wrong memory can feel just as sure.Opens after: Perception
  13. ScepticismLockedDoubting whether we really know things - maybe whether we know anything at all. The dream question (Zhuangzi, Descartes) shows we can be certain of very little.Opens after: Knowledge, Perception
  14. Strong and weak evidenceLockedEvidence is strong when nothing else could easily explain it, and weak when many things could. Several pieces pointing the same way add up.Opens after: Evidence
  15. Degrees of confidenceLockedBelief comes in degrees, from "no idea" to "sure". A careful thinker is as sure as the evidence allows, no more and no less.Opens after: Strong and weak evidence
  16. Independent sourcesLockedSources that each found something out separately. Hearing a claim many times only adds up if the sources are independent; people repeating one person are one source.Opens after: Reliable source, Strong and weak evidence
  17. Knowing without certaintyLockedWe can know things with good reasons without being certain, and still be wrong. Hold beliefs firmly enough to act on them and loosely enough to change them.Opens after: Scepticism
  18. Sources of knowledgeLockedThe four places knowledge comes from: your senses, your memory, what others tell you, and working things out (reasoning). They usually work together.Opens after: Perception, Memory, Testimony
  19. Survivorship biasLockedDrawing a conclusion only from the examples that survived or succeeded, forgetting the ones that didn't - like judging old houses only by the ones still standing.Opens after: Confirmation bias, Hasty generalisation
  20. Big claims need big evidenceLockedThe more surprising a claim is, the more evidence it needs before it is reasonable to believe it - because a mistake is more likely than the surprise.Opens after: Degrees of confidence
  21. Checking a sourceLockedBefore believing a post or a message, ask who made it, when, whether its picture is really from it, and whether reliable, independent sources say the same - by looking somewhere else.Opens after: Reliable source, Independent sources
  22. Suspending judgementLockedLeaving a question open - not believing it and not believing it false - until there is more evidence. "I don't know yet" is the third choice.Opens after: Degrees of confidence
  23. Updating beliefsLockedChanging a belief to fit new evidence - a lot for strong evidence, a little for weak evidence. It isn't admitting you were foolish; it is how knowledge keeps up.Opens after: Degrees of confidence
  24. Intellectual humilityLockedKnowing that your knowledge has limits and that you could be wrong - and being glad to learn when you are. Not knowing nothing, but knowing your limits.Opens after: Knowing without certainty, Updating beliefs

Connections to other domains