The Four Idols of Sir Francis Bacon byBen Chambers and Zeb Dahl . Discuss how each of the following can distort what is real to the understanding : ( with EXAMPLES ! ) Idols of the Tribe : A person ' s education : Education falls into the " nurture " side of the " nature - nurture " equation , and is a large influence on an individual ' s perception of the world around them . Unfortunately , the false realities of the educators , books , etc . can get passed on to the student , thus coloring their clear understanding . For example , if a particular history teacher had a dislike of , say , communism , the student might well get false impressions of how that system works and its implications for society . The books a person reads : Books work similarly to education , and perhaps are in fact a somewhat less intense version of education . Again , the points of view in books will tend to distort an understanding and thus a person can be greatly influenced by their reading material . For example , if a person were to read a book portraying a particular subject ( say , religion in schools ) in a negative manner , the person ' s understanding and reaction to the issue could be completely clouded . The people a person admires : All people have their own idols and false understandings , and if a person holds another in too high esteem , there is the potential for them to pick up their " herd ' s " false perceptions . ( For example , you might admire someone for some reason , but find yourself picking up a bad habit of theirs . ) A person ' s experiences : A person ' s experiences can also distort their understanding , especially if they attempt to draw too many conclusions from them . For example , if you were robbed by a certain race or type of person , you might ( even subconsciously associate that type of person with the experience and come to the conclusion that that type of person is bad . Our need to seek more and more regularity in the world than there really is : This is a tendency people have which may well arise from convenience of thought : we tend to think that things ought to be simple . Science has been under this delusion for some time , assuming there was a simple explanation for most physical phenomena ( such as weather ) . Relativity , QM , and Chaos theory are only recently changing this view . ( It is know known that many such phenomena cannot be predicted . ) Our tendency to seek out evidence of that which we already believe to be true : This arises perhaps from affection we begin to give to ideas we have found and carried with us for some time ; we become attached to them and collect evidence that supports them while throwing out that which contradicts them . Of course , this will lead us to false conclusions if we have accidentally embraced a false " truth . " Science faces this problem all the time : in the attempts to find scientific evidence for , say , psychic phenomena , scientists often tend to find data that fits whatever conclusions they were expecting , whether or not it was the most accurate analysis of data . This is especially problematic in the analysis of " soft " data , such as the results of psychological experiments . Our tendency to see personal truths as universal : This boils down to opinion . Clearly , your opinion ( just one of your little false realities ) is far from universal , and yet most people consider them to be so and will often argue them vehemently with little thought to their real value . For example , in the area of personal taste around music , I hear it said often that " musical group X sucks " or " yeah , band y has two good songs . " Often , these opinions are treated as reality without any realization of their very personal , opinion - based nature . Our belief in empirical data : The problem with empirical data is it is reliant upon the senses . And the senses are inherently unreliable , being very much a relative measure of things . This can give impressions that are incorrect . In addition people believe that if they can ' t sense something , it isn ' t there . ( " I ' ll believe it when I see it . ") This has slowed the discovery over time of such things as germs , electromagnetic phenomena , etc . Clearly , initial absence of empirical data has no bearing on its existence . Our tendency to let emotions rule reason : Simply put , the human ' s difficulty in separating emotions from observations and understanding can give us false impressions of the truth based on our feelings at the time . For example , the man who gets cut off by someone in traffic , loses it , chases after the offending driver and vehicle , cuts them off , stops his vehicle and yells at the person ( I ' m not making this up ) clearly has let emotion cloud their better judgment and understanding . Idols of the Cave : People see things in light of their own special knowledge and opinions : People tend to look at things through the eyes of their favorite science or theology , and this can cause distortion of the truth . For example , a chemist who is asked about a certain phenomenon ( say , the nature of electromagnetic radiation ) might delve into a particle - based explanation of it while neglecting a more broad view , thus distorting the understanding of the both the person he is talking to , and himself as well , very likely . Some of us are governed by similarities , others by differences : Both of these extremes are easily mired in excess , tending to miss the other half . The tendency to classify things by their common features or their distinctions can cause the observer to miss all other aspects of the things he is studying , even though they might be more important . For example , an individual who meets someone they ' ve never met before might notice that some mannerism of the person reminds them of their mother . They might be so distracted by this fact that they completely fail to get to know the other person . Those who love the past and those who love the possibilities of the future obscure the knowledge of the present : " The past is but a memory , the future is but a dream ; the only truth is now , the moment . " Philosophers who concentrate too much on the past or the future miss the importance of the now , the present , the experience , which is the most important part . For example , those who attempt to know the " truth " by analyzing the past may understand much of what shaped where we are today , but they may well completely miss the thoughts of the day , the existence of reality as it is now , or even their own thoughts on things , thus obstructing their knowledge . Some of us see only the details and others see only the global : Failure to examine things on more than one level of " zoom " can cause serious gaps in our understanding of any subject of study . For instance , were mechanical physicists to ignore particle physics , they would have a thoroughly incomplete understanding of what ' s going on . Idols of the Marketplace : Words are misused or misunderstood : This is a large problem in the communication of ideas , which is quite important . Two people having a conversation might be using the same word but thinking of different meanings , and would obviously not be getting the same meaning . Or , a person might use the wrong word , thinking one thing but saying another . For example , using the word " Sophistic " instead of " Sophisticated " will give the listener two very different impressions of whatever is being described . Words have a true and a vulgar meaning : In a word , slang . Same as above , more or less . Common meaning might differ from true meaning , and in fact common meaning can corrupt true meaning . For example , the word " duff " has a general meaning in common conversation , which has long obscured its true meaning , which is " decaying matter on the floor of a forest . " ( Seriously . ) In any case , confusion can ultimately arise from these differences . Words cannot be defined because we need words to define them : Definitely a circular reasoning problem . Many people come to use words simply by hearing them used , and fail to define them . Worse , any definitions must use more words , which in turn must be defined causing a complete lack of exact understanding of the meaning of the words . For example , looking up the word " intelligent , " one gets the definition " having quick mental capabilities . " This requires looking up all of these words , which are in turn defined by more words , ad infinitum ; one never gets to a non - word definition . Names of things which do not exist confuse our understanding : Things which are supposed to be true with no evidence , simply from speculation . Such an idea was that of ether , the medium that light was supposed to move in . However , no such medium seems to exist , and the idea threw scientists off for some time . Names of things which exist but which are defined or have contradictory meanings : ( don ' t use " humid ") Very simply , words which have more than one meaning , of which the English language is full . Even a simple word like " clever " can mean either " smart " or " tricky , " which have very different meanings . How do the following work well in demonstration but less well in reality separate from their control ? Idols of the Theater : Religion : Religion is in a way domesticated philosophy , relying on scripture for its philosophical teachings . The idols of much religion is the reliance on these writings ( too narrow a foundation ) to the point that the philosophy is not itself examined very closely . For example , religion is supposed to espouse virtues such as forgiveness and not murdering , but on the other hand some of the worst atrocities of all time have been committed in the name of religion , with little thought to the moral issues of what is being done . ( Holy wars are an especially good example of this . ) Political systems ( democracy , communism , etc . ) : Political systems are created on the assumption that people will act and work in certain ways ( communism especially is prone to this ) . In actuality , however , idols of various kinds and limitations in the plans themselves may keep the political systems from functioning as they had been expected to in theory . For example , democracy is supposed to have the " people " making all the decisions , but in a large society , indirect representation is the only feasible route to go , distancing the people from the political processes and draining much power out of the premise of the system . Education : The basic idea here is that education , the transferal of knowledge , can too easily be corrupted by stagnant ideas , or by the prejudices ( idols ) of the teacher . Political parties : Political parties also base their " philosophies " on too narrow a base of knowledge and understanding , drawing on popular thought and opinion rather than true philosophy or science . For example , a certain political party ( think elephants ) tends to base much of its thought both on public opinion ( which is a crock ) and on religion ( see " religion " above ) . Many of its more prominent members ( think bananas and lizards ) seem to base most of their viewpoints on the above stated reasons , leaving original thought out of the equation altogether . BOTH political parties are guilty of this ( in different directions ) , and it drains much of the validity of the positions of both parties . ****