Chapter 32 Section 19

five one (27) Instances of Illusion*--instances in which the material or generative cause is insignificant and disproportionate in comparison with the deeds and effects produced; Like magic; some seem so at first glance, and some are even miraculous after careful consideration.Indeed, nature itself is stingy in furnishing such examples; what nature will do, time will tell as soon as its folds are unrolled, when the form, process, and structure are discovered. specified.According to my current conjecture, the effect of this illusion comes from three methods: one is self-proliferation, such as fire, such as the so-called special poison, such as the movement of increasing power through the rotation of the wheels, all of which are This effect; secondly, by stimulating and entrapping another body, as a lodestone excites innumerable compass needles without injuring one's own character, as yeast and similar things do; thirdly, by acting on The preemptive effect of movement, such as the gunpowder, artillery and landmines mentioned above, is the plot.Of these three methods, the first two require knowledge of inductivity, the third of measured motion.As for the question of whether there is any way of changing objects from the smallest point (as they say), to transforming the finer structure of matter (which is necessary for every kind of body transformation), so that technology can To achieve things in a short period of time that naturally requires many detours, this is a point that I have not yet confirmed enough to explain.Just as I have always longed for the last and highest in what is solid and true, so I have always hated all vain and pompous things, and will do my best to drive them away. ① Kachin pointed out that this kind of example is that a great and miraculous result comes from a seemingly disproportionately small cause.Here, Bacon seems to have thought that the progress of science would reveal a greater harvest. - translator

②The original Latin text is "perminima".Kachin explained that this probably has two meanings, one refers to using the smallest tool, and the other refers to passing through an infinitely small space.This may refer to the latter. - translator five two So much for the nobility or priority in the above-discussed cases.The reader is reminded that in my instrumental treatise I am dealing with logic, not philosophy. ① But because my logic teaches the understanding not so that it can grasp some abstractions with the delicate tendrils of the mind (as ordinary logic does), but so that it can really dissect nature, and can really discover objects. The nature and activities of human beings, together with the laws stipulated in matter, so the source of this science is not only from the nature of the mind, but also from the nature of things; therefore, it is full of speculations and experiments on nature. It should come as no surprise, given the example of the technique I preach.

To sum up, we see that there are twenty-seven kinds of so-called priority cases, namely: (1) unique cases, (2) migratory cases, (3) striking cases, (4) subtle cases (5) Composite cases, (6) Compatible cases, (7) Unique cases, (8) Derailment cases, (9) Cross-border cases, (10) Power cases, (11) Examples of friends and enemies, (12) Examples of extremes, (13) Examples of alliances, (14) Examples of road signs, (15) Examples of divorce, (16) Examples of portals, ( 17) Examples of subpoenas, (18) examples of distances, (19) examples of remedies, (20) examples of divisions, (21) examples of measuring poles, (22) examples of timing, ( 23) Examples of doses, (24) examples of struggles, (25) examples of suggestion, (26) examples of multiple uses, (27) examples of illusions.It should be pointed out that the usefulness of these examples—this is where they are superior to ordinary examples—some are in the part about knowledge, some are in the part about action, and some are in both parts.As for the intellectual part, some of them aid the senses, and some aid the understanding.Those that help the senses are the examples of the five kinds of lamps Nos. 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 above.As for helping comprehension, there are many ways: some promote the elimination process of formulas, such as the unique case; some narrow and point out the positive aspects of formulas more clearly, such as immigration The four cases of striking, companionate, and limit are; some raise the understanding and direct it to classes and common qualities, and some of them do so directly, as the three cases of subtle, unique, and alliance are , some in a lesser degree, as in the case of composition, and others in the lowest degree, as in the case of agreement; some correct the understanding when habit leads it astray. In the past, such as the case of derailment; there are still others that direct the understanding to great formulas or structures of the so-called universe, as in the case of crossing boundaries; The example of signposts and the example of divorce are.As for the movement part, some of these examples point to the practice, some measure it, and some make it less difficult.Instructing the practical, or instructing us on what to start with, so that we do not have to go back to the old base, as in the case of power; The example is.The four so-called mathematical examples of measuring rod, timing, dosage and struggle are to measure practice.And the examples of multiple uses and illusions make the practice less difficult. ① Kachin pointed out: Looking at the whole book, it can be seen that Bacon did not want to regard his instrumental theory as a philosophical work, but as an instrumental thing. - translator

It should also be noted that, of these twenty-seven cases, some of which, as I have said before, must be collected immediately, without waiting for a special investigation of a certain nature.A few examples of fit, unique, escapades, crossovers, power, dosage, suggestive, multipurpose, and illusion fall into this category.For these examples either aid and correct the understanding and senses, or generally furnish instruments for practice.As for the rest of the cases, we need not explore them until we make a list of some particular quality for the work of the interpreter.As the cases marked and bearing these priorities are like souls in common cases, and, as I said at the outset, can get more with less, they must be searched with all zeal in making the list, and put them in the table.As for me, it is necessary to deal with them in advance because I have to say about them here and there.I shall now proceed to some of the pillars and refinements of induction, and then to the concrete, to the hidden process, to the hidden structure, and then to the successive propositions presented in the twenty-first quotation above. the rest of the items.In doing so, I may finally (like a faithful guardian) deliver to the people their estates, when their understanding is freed and, as it were, of manhood; It is the improvement of human status and the extension of human power over nature.In the first fall, human beings lost both their innocence and their dominion over all natural creatures.But both losses can be partially remedied even in this life: the former by religion and faith, the latter by technology and science.It must be known that all things in nature have not been made an absolute and eternal rebellion by the cursed one. Under the action of the constitution of "eating your bread with the sweat of your face", it is now finally being ruled by all kinds of people. Labor of all kinds (not, of course, by some empty argument or some vain ritual of illusion, but by all kinds of labor) has been subjugated to a certain extent to provide bread for mankind, that is to say, to be useful to human life. up.