Nick, ignore the sanction points I just gave you in error. I meant to hit the "Reply" button.
It’s a wonder I get sanction points at all. Sometimes, I’m proud of them. However, there are several really good posts down below which have no sanction points. So, they can’t really mean all that much.
Some cultures indeed haven't advanced beyond them, but I don't think certainty is to blame. I think it's fear of certainty, or an embrace of uncertainty, or sheer ignorance, or simply no motivation to look for more. I don't know.
It could be certainty that their level of advancement is good enough. As you say, you don’t know. It’s uncertainty that usually motives people to become more certain. When people are certain they already know something, it’s hard to teach it to them. When they are uncertain, they are insecure and eager to learn.
Why do some cultures still practice the same rituals over and over, when 9 times out of 10, the result is never the one desired? Clearly these people can't be certain the outcomes will be what they want, yet they continue to practice the same ritual, the same way, year after year, for hundreds and thousands of years. They're terrified to make a single change.
We have our own rituals. Have you read The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson? Some people are having problems adjusting to change. They want to smoke in buildings which now prohibit smoking. They don’t want to separate their trash and recycle. They don’t want to buckle their seatbelts. They don’t want to carpool. There is some security, certainty, in doing things as they have always been done, and there is insecurity, uncertainty, with making changes.
Does that sound like certainty? It doesn't to me. Unless there's some kind of argument like "certain of the uncertain," which just sounds silly.
There is certainty in tradition, in ceremony, in ritual, in habitual behavior. Learning something new is scary sometimes. People resist change. It is taking a chance.
The thing is, I don't think "uncertainty" is the lynchpin to greater learning or progress. Wanting to discover and learn more is born from certainty. That's my point. And I see that you don't entirely disagree with that, which is good. I think uncertainty motivates the pursuit of certainty. When people think they are certain, they stop looking for answers. They become satisfied with their self-deceptions. That is why religious fundamentalism led to the dark ages.
“Teresa, if you can't be 100% certain of something, it doesn't mean you have to be 100% in doubt about everything.”
Damn, Nick! Make up your mind! To what degree is certainty wrong and uncertainty right?
First, I never changed my mind in this thread. I never said that simply because we can’t be 100% certain of everything, we have to be 100% uncertain of everything. This is your reading comprehension problem.
Second, do you have a problem living with uncertainty? I don’t know exactly to what degree some things are right or wrong. I am more certain of some things than I am of others, but I don’t pretend to have all the answers. And, there are shades of gray. This doesn’t paralyze me or keep me from making decisions. It just makes life more exciting for me. I am still curious about things I don’t know, and I am still learning and becoming more certain. I think this makes me closer to the truth, in some instances, than those who are certain about that which isn’t true.
bis bald,
Nick
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