Experiment
Test the accuracy of your sentience using the experimental method.
according to Knowledge Rating, there is always some uncertainty in the things we experience and what we learn from those experiences, so it’s helpful to have a way to fill in some of the questions that arise in our thinking.
Experiences happen to us all the time, but it’s rarely clear what we should learn from them.
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An experiment is when you deliberately test an assumption or a hypothesis through some action. That action should logically tell you something about your hypothesis, specifically, it should provide evidence as to whether it’s correct or not. It might effectively refute it or validate it, but as with all knowledge, it doesn’t create certainty one way or the other.
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Buckminster Fuller called experiments “voluntary experiences.” Things happen to us all the time, but since we don’t control the variables in those experiences, it’s not always clear what exactly we should learn from them. An experiment is a planned experience, one we undertake ourselves to learn something with more certainty.
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Experiments vary from being very personal and informal to highly controlled. In this pattern, I’m suggesting that you start with the informal experiments that you’re currently doing, become more conscious of them, and look for ways to be more intentional with them. Of course, you can engage in more formal experiments as your skills increase.
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A typical experiment might mean engaging your Multi-Modal Senses. Let’s say, for example, you see a beautiful plant across a room. Your assumption (hypothesis) might be that it’s an artificial plant because it looks too perfect or it seems like it shouldn’t be able to be so healthy in such a dimly-lit room. So, you walk over, touch it, and find that it is, in fact, a real plant. That is a form of experiment. You created an intentional experience for the purpose of verifying or clarifying your perceptions.
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On a more interpersonal level, if you’re talking with someone, ask them Clarifying Questions as a way of testing your assumptions about what they’re saying.
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In Sense of Taste, I suggest that you should experiment with different spices in your cooking. In this kind of experiment, you’re trying different things and comparing them to find the ones you like. You’re designing an experience by creating a food that is unfamiliar and observing the results.
Therefore:
Learn new things and test the accuracy of your perceptions and understanding using the experimental method.
Experiments can take lots of forms from using your Multi-Modal Senses to asking Clarifying Questions, as it’s primarily a way to learn directly from the world around you