In logical theories of change it is common to consider two types of objects that provoke change: 1) actions that are carried out by agents, and 2) events which occur externally, without agent intervention. In this paper we argue for the existence of a special type of event, which we call natural events. An event is called natural if its occurrence is the result of a natural process. For example...

Surprise for a particular event is often thought to correspond to the degree to which that event deviates from an expected schema. However, in this paper we present two novel experiments that challenge this view. Participants were asked to rate how surprised they would be if an event, or series of events, followed on from a number of short scenarios. In one condition these events confirmed an e...