"Sometimes the reader will decide something else than the author's intent; this is certainly true of attempts to empirically decipher reality"

In this quote, John M. Ford is highlighting the fact that readers may interpret a text in a different way than what the author intended. This is specifically real when it comes to attempting to comprehend and understand the world around us through empirical evidence. In spite of the author's efforts to communicate a particular message or meaning, readers might come to their own conclusions based on their own experiences and perspectives. This can cause a disconnect in between the author's intent and the reader's analysis. It also stresses the subjectivity of reality and how it can be viewed differently by different people. Eventually, this quote reminds us that our understanding of the world is formed by our own predispositions and analyses.