“Anything new that we learn about the world involves plausible reasoning”

— George Pólya

Induction and Analogy in Mathematics (1954)
Context: Demonstrative reasoning penetrates the sciences just as far as mathematics does, but it is in itself (as mathematics is in itself) incapable of yielding essentially new knowledge about the world around us. Anything new that we learn about the world involves plausible reasoning, which is the only kind of reasoning for which we care in everyday affairs.

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George Pólya 35

Hungarian mathematician 1887–1985

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“Anything new that we learn about the world involves plausible reasoning”

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George Pólya 35

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