Empirical Evidence

A long, long, long time ago, before the advent of photography, or even text printing, the only sort of reality one could depend on was first-hand experience. You had to actually experience something yourself, with your own eyes, ears, and other senses, to be certain it was true. We call this empirical evidence—verifiable by observation or experience.

Sure, there was “word of mouth,” but that wasn’t always that persuasive. And add to that myths, rituals, and religious beliefs. People did walk around in a vacuum, believing only what they had personally experienced. They had superstitions, ancient stories, and all that. Of course, that stuff was even less persuasive and could be made up to be rather lavish and imaginative, but whatever—this was all that made up the foundation of reality, and who’s to say if it was entirely inaccurate?