On Abandoning Certainty

Here's the corresponding blog post: http://j.mp/ddSCIt

In my journey through Atheism and, more importantly, Skepticism, I've found myself in a state of constant flux. More recently, I've come to realize that even my position of Atheism is really nothing more than a side-effect of my Skepticism. Furthermore, and in this same vein, I've realized that any position which I arrive at will ultimately be a result of my Skeptical mindset.

In coming to this realization, I've had to acknowledge the fact that no matter what conclusions I arrive at, I must abandon any inclinations I have toward certainty. And before I get too much into this idea of certainty, I should probably do a bit of explaining.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Logic
• Science
• Philosophy
• Certainty
• Absolute
• Confidence
• Knowledge
• Conclusions
• Skepticism
• Skeptical
• Atheist
• Atheism

[pawsoned]

I agree, absolute certainty=dogmatism. By the same token new atheists' fervor is tantamount to religious dogmatism as far as I'm concerned. Hence, the only honest rational stance apart from skepticism is agnosticism but how can one's actions be dependent on persistent doubting? Faith, or beliefs in general, fill that void imo and help people move through their lives otherwise infested with uncertainty.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@pawsoned

So, it's a balancing act. While you can never be 100% certain about anything, I don't see that we need to be. The balance comes into play when we think about how much uncertainty is okay before we need to withhold judgement.

In most cases, uncertainty stems from not being exposed to information, as opposed to humanity not having the information. Being informed, I guess, is a value judgement in that people will inform themselves if they're interested in being informed.

[MrCrustyelbows]

Wow! What an excellent video! More people need to hear this. Thanks for making this video man.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@MrCrustyelbows

Thanks, man. I really appreciate the support.

[terminaldeity]

Anything past solipsism requires faith to some extent.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@terminaldeity

And I definitely am not a solipsist. lol

[KenChamberlain]

One thing is certain, the biggest proponents of certainty, are religious believers. I'm not absolutely certain of that though. lol

[Chuck1863]

@TheSkepticalAtheist I like to use a similar argument on the optimists who claim that nothing is impossible. I ask them if it's possible to describe an impossible task. That's just for my own amusement, though.

[TheSkepticalAtheist]

@Chuck1863

I think what is interesting is that even by exploring this question, we're engaging in the very same thing that I'm talking about. By merely asking the question, "Is there another way?" We cannot be certain. And, until someone explores every single possible permutation of assessing knowledge and obtaining certainty, we can never know for certain whether or not there IS another way.

Very interesting...

[Chuck1863]

@TheSkepticalAtheist Your reasoning seems good to me, but is absolute knowledge the only way to achieve 100% certainty? I think so, but perhaps someone else has found another way that I haven't thought of. I can't deny the possibility.

Probably most people will agree with you so it won't be an issue in discussions of knowledge. Or at least if someone claims 100% certainty then there's probably no point in continuing the discussion unless he can tell how he acquired this certainty.