Mind · Reasoning
Induction
Specific to general logic
Definition
Mechanism
Moving from specific observations (Datum) to general rules. The conclusion is probable, not certain. Induction has no formal justification and never acquires one, so what the pattern requires is disclosure rather than soundness.
Invariants
- A conclusion states the observations it generalises from and their range.
- Generalization: the output rule covers more cases than the input Datum.
Risks
Failure modes
Unbounded extrapolation
the rule is applied outside the range the observations covered.
Unrepresentative sample
the rule is well supported and the range was never the right one.
Relationships
Builds on
References
Infrastructure
Raw unit of fact
Used by
References
Inference to the best explanation — provisional, ranked by simplicity/scope/coherence
Inductive pattern extraction
Reference