ideal vs. reality

"Judgment may reach farther, but that is not knowledge.- We are not therefore to wonder if certainty be to be found in very few general propositions made concerning substances; our knowledge of their qualities and properties go very seldom farther than our senses reach and inform us. Possibly inquisitive and observing men may, by strength of judgment, penetrate farther; and on probabilities taken from wary observations, and hints well laid together, often guess right at what experience has not yet discovered to them." John Locke p.503

This excerpt can be applied to people's ideals versus the reality of a situation. When I say situation, I mean situations that question people's morals like abortion or premarital sex. I blogged earlier when we were reading about Descartes on how he basically says that what people say and the actions that people carry out are two separate things. This passage reaffirms what Descartes was saying. Until you actually experience something you can not predict what you would do in that particular situation. Just because you might think you have all the information on a situation you can not predict what you would do in a hypothetical situation.