--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Inference is always an invasion of the…" description: "\"Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap from the known.\" — John Dewey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png" --- # Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap… ![“Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap from the known.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png) > “Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap from the known.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inference involves stepping from known knowledge into unknown territory, an act of daring that expands understanding. **In simple terms:** Inference jumps from known to unknown. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty to learn. Themes knowledge uncertainty growth inference exploration Mood curious inspired Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research - problem solving - innovation Key Concepts epistemology cognitive risk creativity Questions to Reflect On - What unknowns do you avoid? - How can you manage inference risk? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can mislead inference. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Invasion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invasion/) [Leap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leap/) ## Related quotes > [Intelligent thinking means an increment of freedom in action-an emancipation from chance and fatality. 'Thought' represents the suggestion of a way of response that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/intelligent-thinking-means-an-increment-of-freedom-in-action-an/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no reasoning, no process of inference or comparison; there is no thinking about things, no putting two and two together; there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/there-is-no-reasoning-no-process-of-inference-or-comparison-there-is/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [ The average college graduate's proficient literacy in English \[the ability to read lengthy, complex texts and draw complicated inferences\] has declined from 40 percent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/the-average-college-graduate-s-proficient-literacy-in-english-the/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [The inference to which we are brought is that the causes of faction cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-inference-to-which-we-are-brought-is-that-the-causes-of-faction/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [When I was twelve years old I thought up an odd trinity: namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Devil. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-i-was-twelve-years-old-i-thought-up-an-odd-trinity-namely-god/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [All science is intelligent inference; excessive literalism is delusion, not a humble bowing to evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/all-science-is-intelligent-inference-excessive-literalism-is-delusion/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-havighurst/the-modern-world-needs-people-with-a-complex-identity-who-are/) [Robert J. Havighurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-havighurst/) > [But deciding not to have children is a very, very hard decision for a woman to make: the atmosphere is worryingly inconducive to saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/but-deciding-not-to-have-children-is-a-very-very-hard-decision-for-a/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [And the user may have a higher comfort level deciding what information to provide rather than worrying about what inferences might be made from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-felten/and-the-user-may-have-a-higher-comfort-level-deciding-what/) [Edward Felten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-felten/) > [“Holmes laughed. "Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life," said he. "Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/holmes-laughed-watson-insists-that-i-am-the-dramatist-in-real-life/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Man is very much a creature of habit. A thing that rarely strikes his senses will generally have but little influence upon his mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/man-is-very-much-a-creature-of-habit-a-thing-that-rarely-strikes-his/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [ ...a consistency proof for \[any\] system ... can be carried out only by means of modes of inference that are not formalized in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-g-del/a-consistency-proof-for-any-system-can-be-carried-out-only-by-means/) [Kurt Gödel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-g-del/) > [Tax dollars intended for science education must not be used to teach creationism as any sort of real explanation of nature, because any observation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/tax-dollars-intended-for-science-education-must-not-be-used-to-teach/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [The so called unconscious inferences can be traced back to the all-preserving memory, which presents us with parallel experiences and hence already knows the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-so-called-unconscious-inferences-can-be-traced-back-to-the-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Inference quotes > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [The so called unconscious inferences can be traced back to the all-preserving memory, which presents us with parallel experiences and hence already knows the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-so-called-unconscious-inferences-can-be-traced-back-to-the-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Tax dollars intended for science education must not be used to teach creationism as any sort of real explanation of nature, because any observation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/tax-dollars-intended-for-science-education-must-not-be-used-to-teach/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [ ...a consistency proof for \[any\] system ... can be carried out only by means of modes of inference that are not formalized in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-g-del/a-consistency-proof-for-any-system-can-be-carried-out-only-by-means/) [Kurt Gödel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-g-del/) > [Man is very much a creature of habit. A thing that rarely strikes his senses will generally have but little influence upon his mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/man-is-very-much-a-creature-of-habit-a-thing-that-rarely-strikes-his/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“Holmes laughed. "Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life," said he. "Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/holmes-laughed-watson-insists-that-i-am-the-dramatist-in-real-life/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [And the user may have a higher comfort level deciding what information to provide rather than worrying about what inferences might be made from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-felten/and-the-user-may-have-a-higher-comfort-level-deciding-what/) [Edward Felten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-felten/) > [But deciding not to have children is a very, very hard decision for a woman to make: the atmosphere is worryingly inconducive to saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/but-deciding-not-to-have-children-is-a-very-very-hard-decision-for-a/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-havighurst/the-modern-world-needs-people-with-a-complex-identity-who-are/) [Robert J. Havighurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-havighurst/) > [All science is intelligent inference; excessive literalism is delusion, not a humble bowing to evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/all-science-is-intelligent-inference-excessive-literalism-is-delusion/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [When I was twelve years old I thought up an odd trinity: namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Devil. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-i-was-twelve-years-old-i-thought-up-an-odd-trinity-namely-god/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The inference to which we are brought is that the causes of faction cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-inference-to-which-we-are-brought-is-that-the-causes-of-faction/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [ The average college graduate's proficient literacy in English \[the ability to read lengthy, complex texts and draw complicated inferences\] has declined from 40 percent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/the-average-college-graduate-s-proficient-literacy-in-english-the/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [There is no reasoning, no process of inference or comparison; there is no thinking about things, no putting two and two together; there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thorndike/there-is-no-reasoning-no-process-of-inference-or-comparison-there-is/) [Edward Thorndike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thorndike/) > [Since reasoning , or inference, the principal subject of logic, is an operation which usually takes place by means of words , and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/since-reasoning-or-inference-the-principal-subject-of-logic-is-an/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) Browse all 145 Inference quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap from the known.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-unknown-a-leap-from-the-known/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inference" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-unknown-a-leap-from-the-known/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/john-dewey-545_inference_inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-u_2102963.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Inference is always an invasion of the unknown, a leap from the known.” — John Dewey", "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": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Inference is always an invasion of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-unknown-a-leap-from-the-known/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/inference-is-always-an-invasion-of-the-unknown-a-leap-from-the-known/#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 } } ] } ```