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Summary: Popper and computer induction
Donald A. Gillies
Introduction
In a recent article in BioEssays, John F. Allen uses Popper's
philosophy of science to argue on p. 107 that ``There is no
induction machine'', and that looking for one will result in
``waste of resources spent on the search itself.'' This argument
is of great interest to me because I started my research life as
a graduate student in philosophy of science in Popper's
department at the London School of Economics in the years
1966±68. Popper had just published his book Conjectures and
Refutations, 1963 in which he says on p. 53: ``Induction, i.e.
inference based on many observations, is a myth. It is neither
a psychological fact, nor a fact of ordinary life, nor one of
scientific procedure.'' Indeed I remember Popper making the
statement: ``induction is a myth'' in one of his lectures in 1967,
to which he added: ``and those who claim that there is induction
do not know what they are talking about.'' I need hardly add
that I was completely convinced by Popper's very forceful
arguments for this thesis which I believed for many years.
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