How We Know What We Know

 After much discussion on this subject, my group came to the conclusion that the only true way to know something is by observing it. This was the way that most of modern science and physics were developed. Francis Bacon was the original promotor of empirical thought (as far as I've learned at least), and although he was not a scientist, the beginning of scientific method was developed when early scientists adopted his philosophies. Carriers of the empirical philosophy often ignored knowledge given to them by society and upbringing and tried to test everything out themselves. This type of person is commonly referred to, in my family at least, as an idiot.