I think I get your overall point - you're describing a more or less formal process of induction. This part I don't get - You're trying to tie what you have to say back to the certainty of Descartes, but it doesn't work. I think, therefore I am, but that doesn't mean my experiences have any connection with an outside reality or even with a coherent internal reality. The same goes for my actions, if they are really even actions at all. If I even have a body. — T Clark
Thank you, that's a great point. I did some re-evaluation of this framework and found that we can't actually tie our beliefs to reality itself but we can assign truth statements to the pattern we observe with sense data.
---DEFINITIONS---
1. Belief ≡ models of reality that are believed to be true/mostly true
1a. A belief holds a value (x) WHERE 1=True (x measures the reliability of belief)
1b. IF a belief is not true THEN it holds a value (x). 1>x≥0
2. Tactus ≡ recognition-independent experiences
3. Affectus ≡ recognition-dependent experiences
4. Recognition ≡ a form of remembering characterized by a feeling of familiarity when something previously experienced is again encountered
4. Fundamental ≡ the first element in a series
5. Thought ≡ a present-tense engagement in logic
6. Experience ≡ tactus, affectus
7. Predictions ≡ the logical implications of a belief
8. Personal Imperative ≡ a predetermined set of wants (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)
9. Observations ≡ true tactus (tactus that correspond with reality)
---FUNDAMENTAL EPISTEMOLOGY---
1. I have thoughts
2. I have beliefs
4. I have tactus
5. I have affectus
6. Tactus are the most fundamental experience
9. I have a personal imperative: avoid bad tactus/affectus AND seek good tactus/affectus (EX: avoid pain, seek happiness)
10. IF my tactus continuously/repeatedly correlate with my beliefs, THEN the likelihood of my beliefs being true increases (EX: Belief - IF I eat, THEN I feel less hungry. IF I feel less hunger each time I eat, THEN my belief is more likely to be true)
It isn't that we observe reality but that we must interact with our tactus in order to satisfy our personal imperative. So we will never have that certainty but we build a framework of reality from the ground up using observation, models, and more observations (science). It is inherently probabilistic though, that is true.