Hi Billy, On Jan 19, 2011, at 8:37 AM, [email protected] wrote: > This being the case, exactly why should we dismiss certainty as a useful > principle, indeed, > why should we be dismissive or entire classes of certain truths ? Among > these truths is > the psychological need we all have for any number of certainties in life.
I think you missed the deeper point: > The physicist Lawrence Krauss of Arizona State University agreed. "In the > public parlance, uncertainty is a bad thing, implying a lack of rigour and > predictability. The fact that global warming estimates are uncertain, for > example, has been used by many to argue against any action at the present > time," he said. > > "In fact, however, uncertainty is a central component of what makes science > successful. Being able to quantify uncertainty, and incorporate it into > models, is what makes science quantitative, rather than qualitative. Indeed, > no number, no measurement, no observable in science is exact. Quoting numbers > without attaching an uncertainty to them implies they have, in essence, no > meaning." > Courage is the ability to act in the face of uncertainty. Humble leadership is the ability to admit uncertainty despite being committed to a course of action. We should not idolize uncertainty, but we need to leave it a seat at the table even as we act as if we were certain. -- Ernie P. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
