#certainty

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. ↗

— Charles Darwin

#ignorance #knowledge #open-mindedness #science #willful-ignorance

Technology tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possible. People generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice. ↗

— Frank Herbert

#technology #uncertainty #technology

Uncertainty is caused by a lack of knowledge. Hesitation is the product of fear. ↗

— Internet Archive

#uncertainty #internet

Even if it were possible to cast my horoscope in this one life, and to make an accurate prediction about my future, it would not be possible to 'show' it to me because as soon as I saw it my future would change by definition. This is why Werner Heisenberg's adaptation of the Hays Office—the so-called principle of uncertainty whereby the act of measuring something has the effect of altering the measurement—is of such importance. In my case the difference is often made by publicity. For example, and to boast of one of my few virtues, I used to derive pleasure from giving my time to bright young people who showed promise as writers and who asked for my help. Then some profile of me quoted someone who disclosed that I liked to do this. Then it became something widely said of me, whereupon it became almost impossible for me to go on doing it, because I started to receive far more requests than I could respond to, let alone satisfy. Perception modifies reality: when I abandoned the smoking habit of more than three decades I was given a supposedly helpful pill called Wellbutrin. But as soon as I discovered that this was the brand name for an antidepressant, I tossed the bottle away. There may be successful methods for overcoming the blues but for me they cannot include a capsule that says: 'Fool yourself into happiness, while pretending not to do so.' I should actually want my mind to be strong enough to circumvent such a trick. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#assistance #bupropion #depression #future #happiness

I used to be scared of uncertainty; now I get a high out of it. ↗

— Jensen Ackles

#high #i #now #out #scared

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is really advice to myself, a reminder to myself not to avoid change or uncertainty, but to go with it, to surf into change. ↗

— Alan Alda

#avoid #change #dog #go #into

The basic fault lines today are not between people with different beliefs but between people who hold these beliefs with an element of uncertainty and people who hold these beliefs with a pretense of certitude. ↗

— Peter L. Berger

#beliefs #between #certitude #different #different beliefs

We have to be mindful that there is the certainty that terrorists will attempt to launch multiple attacks against their enemy, which is us and our allies. ↗

— Cofer Black

#allies #attacks #attempt #certainty #enemy

What has always surprised me when I walk into a bookstore is the number of books that you can find that are written with certainty. The authors tell some story as though it's true, but they don't have any evidence that it is true! ↗

— David Eagleman

#any #authors #books #bookstore #certainty

Listen, I think what's best for the economy and to create jobs is to extend all of the current tax rates - for all Americans. It - it begins to reduce the uncertainty. And for small businesspeople, they can look up and begin to plan. ↗

— John Boehner

#begin #begins #best #businesspeople #create