"In the absence of external information, people are free to let their imaginations run free as long as the mental models they develop account for the facts as they perceive them" (39).
I have never thought about the process in which people form theories. Norman puts the process simply into words. Keeping to cliches, up until the 19th century people believed that the world was flat. Well, it makes sense, sure there are mountains and valleys, but since one cannot tell that the world is round, why would it be anything but flat? And for that matter, the sun might as well travel around the earth, because one cannot tell that the earth is moving, I mean, I can see the sun moving around the world I live in....
Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
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