  This brings us to the problem of induction. What our observations of the natural world provide us with can be regarded as samples from larger populations. For example the penguins we have observed up to this point provide us with a sample of the wider population of all penguins, at all times, whether observed or not. What can we infer about this wider population from the sample we have? That, in all probability, the population’s complexion is close to that of the sample. We may of course, have an atypical sample before us. But with samples of more than 2500, well over 90% represent the population fairly closely, so the odds are against it.