The certainty paradox — how certain can we be that something is true?

I spent the beginning of the year pondering the meaning of life, the meaning of the advice I was being given, and the implications that such advice has on me. Is everything I have been told, learned, or presented objectively true? For instance, many things we consider to be false in 2024 would be considered factual in the Middle Ages. Back then, the idea that stars can predict our future was as real back then as the fact that humans breathe oxygen is now. Does that mean that something as simple as the fact that humans breathe oxygen is false now?

How do we grapple with the potential fact that everything we know now could be false?

The answer to this is not very straightforward. It is complicated and quite nuanced. There is no single correct answer when it comes to this, and to be quite honest, I don’t really know the truth myself. And that’s okay, since everything I experience is not the one true reality, but rather just one version of it, that is as correct or incorrect as any other. There is no objectivity in how factual each experience ultimately is.

To understand this, let’s take a simple statement:

I can’t do it.

Someone with more experience would have a better answer, and they might tell you that you indeed can do it even if you don’t feel like it. But, for the person who said they can’t do it, to them that is a fact.

I can come up with a list of facts, but there is no real way to prove any of them. What if I’m wrong? That question always exists. Even if I come up with a proof, what if there is a better proof for the opposing side that I just don’t know? What if I had it wrong all along? These are quite tricky questions to grapple, but they do make inherent sense. This is bad, since it warps our perception of what is real and what isn’t…

How do you know anything is real? Real and correct are both assumptions we make after we have some sort of basis. If you like science, this is known as the Scientific Method. If you are a person who has blind trust, this is known as blind acceptance. If you are faithful, then it is your faith that provides the reason. It’s kind of weird, but it really does beg the question: What is real and what isn’t?

Will someone from the future find our ways of verifying legitimacy to be incorrect?

Many more questions can be asked on this idea. Feel free to expand on the idea yourselves, my dear readers — I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thank you!

-Vishal Janamanchi