Barring radical skepticism (simulation, brain-in-a-vat hypothesis, consistent & ever-present hallucinations, brain damage or consistent mental faculty error, any unnoticed change in cognition, psychosis ... you get the picture), my primary source are my senses in accumulating information. Given the operant assumption that my senses, as far their "build" goes, accurately gives me sense information of an external reality. However, I think most people got this assumption backwards though. It's after sensory information that I'm able to come to this assumption; a priori is built upon a postiori basis. IOW, sensory experience guides my mind.
My cognitive ability is inseparably tied with my experience from my senses. Also, I assume that whatever reality is, I think that my sensory organs tied to my mind and the seat for the mind itself, my brain, are made of the same material that objective reality is made of.
But even with this fundamental assumption about an objective reality, I could be wrong. I do not know what test I could device, even if it were be possible, that could put this into question. Only thing I know is that my sensory experiences are consistent to the operation of my senses, as far as my mind is able to decode them.
My mind is not perfect, not by any stretch, nor even my senses. For example, I know that, from experience and comparing sensory information, that my senses are limited, my eyes do not see clearly, which is adjusted with glasses; I'm nearsighted. Likewise, my mind has "software" bugs - even if I accept that my eyes accurately show me of visual information - I'm still easily "deceived" by optical illusions.
I only know these things of imperfections of mind and sensory input, because of internal comparisons of experiences; i.e. illusions break as well as sense organs are faulty and provisional.
It'd be funny to see in the infrared spectrum and have the brain structure to interpret heat vision.
My cognitive ability is inseparably tied with my experience from my senses. Also, I assume that whatever reality is, I think that my sensory organs tied to my mind and the seat for the mind itself, my brain, are made of the same material that objective reality is made of.
But even with this fundamental assumption about an objective reality, I could be wrong. I do not know what test I could device, even if it were be possible, that could put this into question. Only thing I know is that my sensory experiences are consistent to the operation of my senses, as far as my mind is able to decode them.
My mind is not perfect, not by any stretch, nor even my senses. For example, I know that, from experience and comparing sensory information, that my senses are limited, my eyes do not see clearly, which is adjusted with glasses; I'm nearsighted. Likewise, my mind has "software" bugs - even if I accept that my eyes accurately show me of visual information - I'm still easily "deceived" by optical illusions.
I only know these things of imperfections of mind and sensory input, because of internal comparisons of experiences; i.e. illusions break as well as sense organs are faulty and provisional.
It'd be funny to see in the infrared spectrum and have the brain structure to interpret heat vision.
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard P. Feynman
