Can you really know anything for certain?

[msc545]

I contend that you cannot. There is no certainty - only probability.

What do you think?

[Bitter_Sweet94]

You can’t live with 100% certainty about everything, that part I agree with.

But saying nothing can ever be known is too extreme.

Some things are inherently uncertain people’s motives, the future, the full truth behind anything subjective.

Other things are stable enough that treating them as “certain” is practical gravity, basic logic, your own lived experiences.

So for me, it’s a mix

* Absolute certainty is rare.

* Functional certainty exists enough to act, decide, and build a life.

* Most of what we “know” sits on a spectrum of probability, not a binary of true/false.

Doubt keeps you sharp, but if you overdo it, you end up stuck in abstraction instead of living.

[msc545]

No I'm saying that everything is probabilistic. We just assign certainty to some things because it comforts us us but really there is no certainty.

[Bitter_Sweet94]

I get what you mean, technically everything is probabilistic.

But in real life, we still need working anchors.

Not because we’re craving comfort, but because we can’t make decisions if we treat every single thing as equally uncertain.

I’m not arguing for absolute certainty.

I’m saying some probabilities are so high and so consistently proven that we treat them as stable for practical living.

If we don’t, life becomes paralysis, not clarity.

[RandomGirl42]

This is just one of those questions u can take in circles and can never be proved one way or another. Like I could say I know for certain the sunset will rise. U could say 99.9 percent chance but there is a.1 percent probability it won't. On and on.

I only know what I feel is certain and that is that I can have a good day if I choose. And since today is all I ever get than I'm good with that.

[msc545]

Nice analysis. I find it particularly ironic. That's a person that made this analysis has the name Random on here. Randomness is in some ways exactly what I am talking about.

[RandomGirl42]

lol, TY. And actually my name isn't so Random. She was a char in a book and I randomly stole it. 🤣
And I do know one thing for certain, eating beans gives me gas. Just sayin'. 😳

[msc545]

There is a non-zero probability that one day you will eat beans and they will not give you gas.

[msc545]

Remember that the probability of any given event can never be zero and it can never be 1.

[RandomGirl42]

Oh, serious? I have to remember this? Well, I suppose it could come in handy like, if I was in a hostage situation or something and the terrorists said , "Hey, we will let anyone go who can remember the probability of any given event." And then I'd remember and they'd let me go and I'd get on the evening news and stuff and that would be awesome 'cuz then I could brag I was on TV and stuff.

[Sevenpointfive]

haha. of course anything can happen. you have to set conditions for it to be certain.

can i know for certain that if i input 2 –2 = on a calculator, it will tell me 0? that's a certainty. could a glass of water spill on my calculator causing it to cease to function? it is a probablity but not a certainty unless certain conditions are met.

at least that's how i think about it. the probabilities are what causes my anxiety i think. i'm not overthinking i don't think? i'm assessing the situation of certainty without any conditions being met yet. and that sucks sometimes.

[msc545]

A glass of water could fall on your calculator and when you dried it off it might tell you. Two is the answer to 3 + 3. There is a non-zero probability of that happening.

[msc545]

Just because something is low, probability doesn't mean the opposite of that. It's going to be a certainty

[Sevenpointfive]

is your cats name alister? that is a certainty

[msc545]

It is until he changes it. He is, after all, a cat - and they are known to change their minds often.

[DryGermanGuy]

That reads like a bout of existentialism. 🧐

[msc545]

There is a non-zero probability that none of this exists in reality. It might be just a fever dream.

[Staximus]

I think we know approximately jack about shit when it comes to most things, but tell people we know something to make ourselves feel better. We're so advanced, we don't even know how they built the goddamned great pyramid 4,000 years ago.

[Staximus]

We're a bunch of hairless apes

[msc545]

Actually we do know how the pyramid were built or at least we have a pretty good idea about it. It's the other stuff that we don't know much about.

[Staximus]

The are many theories and most of them didn't add up

[msc545]

If even one of them is correct, that sort of contradicts the way you were saying doesn't it?

[Twodogs0525]

Actually, he is confirming what you're saying. There is no certainty of how they were built.

[msc545]

That is true. Actually there is no certainty of anything. Only probability.

[slatyb]

Very deep philosophical question. I agree with you on principle, but it's not helpful in making decisions.

[exitseven]

When i see somebody that is an asshole I am certain about it.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Death and taxes.(And MAGANs blowing Trump 24/7/365/366!!!)