maryellen

The rooster is said to believe that his crowing every morning brings up the sun. Plenty of evidence confirms his belief, every day he crows and every day the sun comes up. Despite these confirmations we believe the rooster's hypothesis to be incorrect. Confirmations no matter how numerous cannot show a belief to be true.

Disconfirmations can be very informative. Perhaps the rooster should ask, "What if I'm wrong? How else might I think about this evidence?" This might led the rooster to the experiment of not crowing one day. The sun's arrival on that day would prove a great deal to the rooster.

Referenced from Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (3rd Ed.) by Daniel Reisberg


MaryEllen