--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here, as in so many other cases, however…" description: "\"Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less attractive when one examines some of the experime..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg" --- # Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out… ![“Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less attractive when one examines some of the experimental work which is not available to us from the armchair.” quote by Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg) > “Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less attractive when one examines some of the experimental work which is not available to us from the armchair.” [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A seemingly obvious idea becomes less appealing when examined against unavailable experimental data. **In simple terms:** Common sense can be misleading without data. Key Takeaway Question assumptions with evidence. Themes critical thinking science epistemology Mood skeptical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy making - product design - media analysis Key Concepts cognitive bias experimental validation Questions to Reflect On - What evidence would change your view? - How do you verify commonsense claims? A Different Perspective Data may be incomplete or misinterpreted, limiting conclusions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armchairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armchairs/) [Attractive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attractive/) [Attractive Examines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attractive-examines-2646387/) [Available](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/available/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Commonsensical Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonsensical-idea-2646384/) [Examines Experimental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examines-experimental-2646385/) [Experimental Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experimental-work-601302/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Turns Commonsensical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns-commonsensical-2646386/) ## Related quotes > [Externalists reject any such view. I think that the idea that we can tell, simply by way of reflection, whether our beliefs are justified,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/externalists-reject-any-such-view-i-think-that-the-idea-that-we-can/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I believe, that empirically informed approaches to the question have issued in more illuminating answers than the old armchair approaches. But I think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-believe-that-empirically-informed-approaches-to-the-question-have/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The experimentalists think that we can only get at our concepts by way of empirical investigation, while the armchair philosophers think that we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-only-get-at-our-concepts-by/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [It started becoming clear to me how one might have views about the nature of mind and of knowledge which are empirically informed. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/it-started-becoming-clear-to-me-how-one-might-have-views-about-the/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I am concerned about epistemic normativity, and I don't think that it is just a hangover from a priori and armchair approaches. Some ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-am-concerned-about-epistemic-normativity-and-i-don-t-think-that-it/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [No one would suggest that we can adequately investigate what makes something an acid, or what makes something aluminum, by bringing our pretheoretical intuitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/no-one-would-suggest-that-we-can-adequately-investigate-what-makes/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Internalist approaches to epistemology, I believe, have a great deal of intuitive appeal. Internalists believe that the features in virtue of which a belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/internalist-approaches-to-epistemology-i-believe-have-a-great-deal-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The kind of approach I take is different from much of experimental philosophy. Although the experimental philosophers and I are certainly in agreement about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different-from-much-of-experimental/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [This was good training for research, because large parts of experimental work are sometimes boring or involve the use of skills in which one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-lewis-perl/this-was-good-training-for-research-because-large-parts-of/) [Martin Lewis Perl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-lewis-perl/) > [I've done experimental work, I've done real conventional documentaries that were very successful, like Las Madres that was nominated for an Academy Award. And,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lourdes-portillo/i-ve-done-experimental-work-i-ve-done-real-conventional-documentaries/) [Lourdes Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lourdes-portillo/) > [You can't make experimental work by copying past work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-parker/you-can-t-make-experimental-work-by-copying-past-work/) [Trey Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-parker/) > [My work is entirely surgical, and Col. Starr has given me a very interesting task of collecting nerve cases that have had the nerves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-banting/my-work-is-entirely-surgical-and-col-starr-has-given-me-a-very/) [Frederick Banting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-banting/) > [There was, I think, a feeling that the best science was that done in the simplest way. In experimental work, as in mathematics, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashworth-ratcliffe/there-was-i-think-a-feeling-that-the-best-science-was-that-done-in/) [John Ashworth Ratcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashworth-ratcliffe/) > [At the beginning of all experimental work stands the choice of the appropriate technique of investigation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-rudolf-hess/at-the-beginning-of-all-experimental-work-stands-the-choice-of-the/) [Walter Rudolf Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-rudolf-hess/) > [Do experimental work but keep in mind that other investigators in the same field will consider your discoveries as less than one fourth as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-manning-child/do-experimental-work-but-keep-in-mind-that-other-investigators-in-the/) [Charles Manning Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-manning-child/) ## More by Hilary Kornblith > [I think that when I first suggested the idea that knowledge should be viewed as a natural kind, many people thought this was just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-think-that-when-i-first-suggested-the-idea-that-knowledge-should-be/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The fact that these scientific theories have a fine track record of successful prediction and explanation speaks for itself. (Which is not to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-fact-that-these-scientific-theories-have-a-fine-track-record-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I am quite wedded to the view that epistemologists should concern themselves with knowledge rather than our concept of knowledge. The analogy I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epistemologists-should-concern/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The role of empirical work in informing our philosophical theories, as I see it, is not that it gives us a better view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-role-of-empirical-work-in-informing-our-philosophical-theories-as/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The kind of approach I take is different from much of experimental philosophy. Although the experimental philosophers and I are certainly in agreement about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different-from-much-of-experimental/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The fact that we have been able to develop a successful science, which issues in ever more accurate predictions and broader explanations, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-fact-that-we-have-been-able-to-develop-a-successful-science-which/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [By putting the first-person point of view in a naturalistic perspective, I believe that we may genuinely come to understand it for the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/by-putting-the-first-person-point-of-view-in-a-naturalistic/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The worry that unreflective belief acquisition may be unreliable, after all, applies equally to reflective belief acquisition: it too may be unreliable. To my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-worry-that-unreflective-belief-acquisition-may-be-unreliable/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [When I got to college, I planned to be a math major, and, in addition to signing up for some math courses, I decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/when-i-got-to-college-i-planned-to-be-a-math-major-and-in-addition-to/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [When reflection is thereby demystified, I believe that the temptation to view human knowledge as different in kind from animal knowledge is undermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/when-reflection-is-thereby-demystified-i-believe-that-the-temptation/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Internalist approaches to epistemology, I believe, have a great deal of intuitive appeal. Internalists believe that the features in virtue of which a belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/internalist-approaches-to-epistemology-i-believe-have-a-great-deal-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [What we need to do, however, is figure out what our best available theories of the mind suggest about epistemological issues, while we recognise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/what-we-need-to-do-however-is-figure-out-what-our-best-available/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I largely defer to the cognitive ethologists. I believe that the arguments that they make on this score are extremely persuasive. More than this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-largely-defer-to-the-cognitive-ethologists-i-believe-that-the/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Rather, although belief may be adequate for explaining the behavior of individual animals - an animal which believes that p will behave no differently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/rather-although-belief-may-be-adequate-for-explaining-the-behavior-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Epistemologists should be concerned with knowledge and justification and so on, not our concepts of them; philosophers of mind should be concerned with various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/epistemologists-should-be-concerned-with-knowledge-and-justification/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Explore all 62 Hilary Kornblith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) ## More Armchairs quotes > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I once sang 'Summer Nights,' from 'Grease,' at a bar in Melbourne with John Travolta, who's a good friend of mine. He looked cool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-jackman/i-once-sang-summer-nights-from-grease-at-a-bar-in-melbourne-with-john/) [Hugh Jackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-jackman/) > [The kind of approach I take is different from much of experimental philosophy. Although the experimental philosophers and I are certainly in agreement about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different-from-much-of-experimental/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [My apartment is basically a couch, an armchair, and about four thousand books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/my-apartment-is-basically-a-couch-an-armchair-and-about-four-thousand/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Joe Calzaghe is next. If he gets himself out that armchair, gets himself back in the gym, let's have a fight for the British…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/joe-calzaghe-is-next-if-he-gets-himself-out-that-armchair-gets/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [Internalist approaches to epistemology, I believe, have a great deal of intuitive appeal. Internalists believe that the features in virtue of which a belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/internalist-approaches-to-epistemology-i-believe-have-a-great-deal-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [It is my dream to create an art which is filled with balance, purity and calmness, freed from a subject matter that is disconcerting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/it-is-my-dream-to-create-an-art-which-is-filled-with-balance-purity/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I'm an armchair psychologist, I suppose, and I like to kind of sit around and guess and pretend I know what's going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hardy/i-m-an-armchair-psychologist-i-suppose-and-i-like-to-kind-of-sit/) [Tom Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hardy/) > [That makes sense, I suppose. But for me, reading is an adventure. It makes me an armchair traveler and takes me places I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-lee/that-makes-sense-i-suppose-but-for-me-reading-is-an-adventure-it/) [Laura Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-lee/) > [I discourage passive skepticism, which is the armchair variety where people sit back and criticize without ever subjecting their theories or themselves to real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-ferriss/i-discourage-passive-skepticism-which-is-the-armchair-variety-where/) [Tim Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-ferriss/) > [They were having an argument as old and comfortable as an armchair, the kind of argument that no one ever really wins or loses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-were-having-an-argument-as-old-and-comfortable-as-an-armchair/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/because-i-saw-my-parents-relaxing-in-armchairs-and-reading-and-liking/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [Must you go? I was rather hoping you'd stay and be a ministering angel, but if you must go, you must." "I'll stay," Will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-you-go-i-was-rather-hoping-you-d-stay-and-be-a-ministering-angel/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I have now and again tried to imagine the perfect environment, the ideal conditions for reading: A worn leather armchair on a rainy night?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-have-now-and-again-tried-to-imagine-the-perfect-environment-the/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [“I said that he was my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/i-said-that-he-was-my-superior-in-observation-and-deduction-if-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) [Browse all 71 Armchairs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armchairs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less attractive when one examines some of the experimental work which is not available to us from the armchair.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilary Kornblith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-it-turns-out-that-a-very/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Armchairs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-it-turns-out-that-a-very/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-i_270619.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less…” — Hilary Kornblith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Hilary Kornblith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here, as in so many other...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-it-turns-out-that-a-very/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-it-turns-out-that-a-very/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```