Society invariably believes the concept that certainty can allow one to achieve all of one’s desires. But this present idea is utterly ambiguous. One cannot rely on certainty because nothing is truly certain. Everything that we hold to be true hasn’t been proven wrong, but who is to say that it couldn’t be true? There is no power that states if one is completely transfixed and convinced, they will be able to subdue all that believes otherwise. Doubt is, in many ways, an amenity; reality in which certainty, would be disregarded. Certainty is a security blanket that masks the underlying truths of life.
William Phelps stated an absolute certainty will make anything possible, but Bertrand Russell believed that our opinions should always have some sort of doubt. The conflict between optimism and doubt is most importantly meant to be kept balanced. Phelps states with a sense of certainty “you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything,” and in many cases this is true. For example, when going into an immense test, it is more useful to be certain in your knowledge and ability to answer the questions correctly. Doubt can create uncertainty in times like this and it is more likely that an incorrect answer will be chosen. In an immense, more important view, certainty can be used to achieve more colossal things, such as the creation of our government and breaking away from England. The colonists were uncertain that they should become independent. It wasn’t until they were confident that they could do just as fine as an independent country that they were able to do so and were free of England’s absurd regulations. Certainty can bring vast confidence with the balance of doubt.
The Essay on Universal Methodic Doubt
... anything can be known with the kind of certainty that he had ... on them that seem obviously true might really be false. Meditation One ends in this doubt-filled state, prompting Descartes to wonder if ... subsequent beliefs are grounded and could thus be known as true. This way of thinking about knowledge is called foundationalism. First ...
Through doubting of the accepted logic of society, many have risen in the past. Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Christopher Columbus are all pioneers that led the world to new discoveries on different frontiers. From the creation of the light bulb and the telephone, to the discovery of the new world, these well-known men of action had begun their journey based on their individual doubts. Due to their doubts, these men were able to make such breakthroughs that they changed the entire world. Without the doubt of the general knowledge of the time, these men would have amounted to something less than what they are given credit for today. Although, having too much doubt can lead to distrust, a person who completely lacks in doubt is considered extremely gullible.
In order to avoid gullibility, you must have an amount of doubt on specific subjects. Within high school, there are many lies and rumors that spread throughout classmates. To avoid gullibility in this particular environment, one must start by searching for the truth. Having doubts on the rumors that are spread can reveal what is the truth. On the other hand, acquiring an excessive amount of doubt can lead to distrust and misunderstandings amongst one’s peers. The use of doubt has brought up many debate, changes, and ideas whether for better or worse.
This debate of certainty and doubt has been in our culture’s conscious for all of mankind to experience. But if we were to deny that the geniuses of our times didn’t doubt, we are all making a tremendous and deficient assumption. Without the doubts of Rutherford or Bohr who revolutionized the model of the atom, or Alexander Graham Bell and Christopher Columbus who both led the world to new discoveries on different frontiers our world wouldn’t be anything like it is now. Certainty can help a person to achieve enormous things, but some doubt must be present at times to define the limits available to a person. Doubt is an absolute certain.
