We Deserve Better Certainties

For a long time now, I’ve held close the idea of uncertainty - summed up by the Voltaire quote:

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”

— Voltaire

Whenever I hear some variation of “I AM RIGHT!”, alarm bells go off. Whether it’s politics, the climate, or what music someone likes, most situations are deeply complex, consisting of entangled connections that make definite ‘answers’ or ‘solutions’ hard to arrive at.

While this sounds a bit waffly, it can in fact be useful. Holding the idea that I might be wrong can help guard against over-confidence, hubris, and - at its worst - arrogance. Uncertainty also opens the door to conversation and alternative possibilities …

Recently, a brilliant conversation between Rachel Donald and Natasha Lennard has made me think about certainty in a different way.

Rather than just the certainty of an individual opinion, what are the collective certainties [assumptions? ideologies? expectations?] that surround us?

• Where do they come from?
• Do we agree with them?
• What might it take to change them?

Do “we deserve better certainties”, as Natasha puts it?

This is still an incomplete [uncertain?!] thought for me, so I’m not going to attempt to explain further … but I highly recommend the podcast.