Perceived Evidence (EP)
Perceived Evidence is what the agent takes the evidence to show after interpretation.
The Lens
Perceived Evidence (EP) is the agent’s internal read on the evidence. It is not merely raw sensation. It includes attention, memory, testimony, statistical interpretation, social framing, and background assumptions.
Why Perception Diverges
EP can diverge from E0 because data are missing, tools are weak, incentives distort attention, or the environment manipulates what is visible. Propaganda, gaslighting, selection effects, and poor measurement all operate at this stage.
EP and Responsibility
A distorted EP may or may not reflect avoidant processing. The agent may have had no access to better information, or they may have avoided it. This is why the model separates structural diagnosis from responsibility assessment.
Why Perception Needs Its Own Category
Perceived Evidence (EP) deserves its own category because people do not respond directly to the full evidence field. They respond to what they notice, remember, trust, understand, and can emotionally tolerate noticing. That middle layer is where many real errors begin.
This helps explain why simply adding facts does not always repair a belief. If the agent’s perception filters are shaped by fear, authority, fatigue, group loyalty, or statistical confusion, the facts may enter the environment without becoming usable evidence for the agent.
Adjacent References
These are starting points rather than exhaustive citations. They connect this page to nearby work in probability, calibration, cognitive bias, and social epistemology.
- |Thomas Bayes, "An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances" (1763).
- |E. T. Jaynes, Probability Theory: The Logic of Science (2003).