Abstract
We propose a hypothesis about “the way people think about, understand and acquire knowledge about some objects,” i.e. human intellect. The essence of human intellect lies in the “beliefs” people make about the objects they are considering. These beliefs are formed, updated and fixed within the individual on the basis of the information received about the object in question. This information is of three types: (1) information derived from perception, (2) information derived from prior related knowledge, and (3) information derived from implicit assumptions arbitrarily put. This knowledge, beliefs, as empirical understanding, often implicit or unconscious, enables the parties involved to predict, control, and implement the external world. The act of modeling, i.e., formalizing this understanding into some form of explicit knowledge, and creating a system of this formal knowledge is science. With this model, the parties involved can make scientific predictions, control, and implement the external world, and communicate their understanding to others.
