Your Private Island of Certainty

By Robert E. Curry

You won't find certainty in anything that you read, hear, see or feel. There are no authoritative sources and the opinions of other people mean nothing when it comes to certainty. Certainty is not what you choose to believe. Certainty is what you have to believe when you realize that nothing else is possible.

Despite this strict condition, certainty can be found through introspection and analysis. It's a personal search, but it's search for treasure.

This short discussion exposes the subtle interplay between certainty and uncertainty, the chemistry that is necessary for life and also enables the greatest opportunities of life.

A bonus chapter reflects on the question that everyone should have been asking all along, 'why is there something, but not everything?'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert E. Curry
• Release date: Dec 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005830892

Robert E. Curry

Robert Curry lives and writes in San Diego, CA.After a 38-year career with NASA, he retired as Chief Scientist for the Armstrong Flight Research Center. As a Christian and an engineer he believes that faith can only be enriched when we seek after it sincerely and challenge it with every tool at our disposal.The author welcomes your thoughts and comments on his work. (Feel free to contact him at: [e-mail])

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YOUR PRIVATE ISLAND OF CERTAINTY

By Robert E. Curry

Copyright 2020 Robert E. Curry

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Your life is defined by uncertainty

Can you be certain of anything?

Thinking and uncertainty go hand in hand

How far can you get?

Everything looks just the way it should

If you can't be sure . . .

We know what it would have to be like

A fleeting opportunity

So, what's the point?

No need to be the lone ranger

In conclusion, what exactly is certain?

Summary

Bonus Chapter - Why is there something and not everything?

End Notes

References

Appendix - Synopsis of the Proposed Reasoning

Meet the Author

"In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of

our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things"

- René Descartes

You're an intelligent being. You're thinking all the time, trying to make sense of your life. Many interpretations have been offered, but you can't help but question all of them, wondering if they are truth. This doesn't mean you have a bad attitude or that you're incapable of faith; it's just the way your mind works; you assess and make your own decisions.

This study seeks after certainty. Nothing is proved certain by the testimony of others, literature, circumstantial evidence or even the observations of your eyes and ears. You can't choose to be certain about anything. Certainty only occurs when you know that there are no other possibilities. It's a hard target and can only be reached through introspection and analysis. So, I bring you no facts, axioms, promises or truisms, just ideas for your consideration.

Your life is defined by uncertainty

Sensations flood your consciousness. You observe an amazing world, full of sights, sounds, scents, tastes. And these observations are the gateway to many other experiences in your life; every person you meet, every book you read, every journey you take, every endeavor you pursue. But none of these observations or the things they imply are certain to exist.

You don't agree? When you dream don't you experience exactly the same kind of sensations? Your apparent observations are vivid and animated and affect your emotions just way they do when you're awake. When dreaming, you don't suspect that you're dreaming. The question could be asked: 'do you know with certainty that you're not dreaming at this moment?' In addition to dreaming, optical illusions, magic tricks, and thought experiments offer more ways to recognize the unreliability of your senses. [1]

This uncertainty arises not because you're careless in your observations; it's a fundamental aspect of life. And even if, somehow, you could be certain of your observations, why would you assume they reveal everything to you? Undetectable phenomena, undetectable by any scientific instrument, could be all around you. How would you know? As the saying goes, 'you can't know what you don't know'.

This pervasive uncertainty was recognized by philosophers thousands of years ago and can be referred to as 'philosophical skepticism'. [2] Since that time philosophy, science and religion have made great progress, but this progress has generally come by stepping over the awkward obstacle of certainty rather than by confronting it. Scholars in every field have had to assume that some things are just so obvious or widely accepted that their certainty need not be questioned. [3] Using such foundational assumptions, vast archives of practical knowledge and understanding have been assembled.

The scientific method has been particularly successful in this regard. By assuming that repeatable, objective observations of nature (empirical data) are reliable, science has produced detailed explanations for how the universe behaves. [4] Humans living today enjoy unprecedented comfort and security because of that success. Still, even the greatest scientific achievements are correctly labeled 'theories' reminding us that they are not certain. They depend on the reliability of our current observations; observations that we know may be illusory, inaccurate or incomplete. [5] It's always possible that today's theories may have to be modified or even discarded based on future observations or re-analysis of existing data. [6]

The intention here is not to question the value of science, theology, philosophy or any other field of study. Ignoring such knowledge would be stupidly limiting, just as limiting as trying to ignore what you see or hear. Philosophical skepticism doesn't declare that observations and empirical research are incorrect; it just means that they aren't grounded in certainty.

It may seem unlikely that you are being fooled by your senses, as in a dream, or that scientific 'laws of nature' will be upended, but 'likelihood' is just a human judgment and is useless when considering the strict definition of certainty. You can't calculate a probability that you are dreaming. If you feel it's unlikely that you are dreaming, that feeling could just as well be part of a dream. When it comes to certainty, likelihood means nothing, you are either certain or you aren't.

Perhaps this nuance seems like a pointless distraction