on certainty 159

159. As children we learn facts; e.g., that every human being has a brain, and we take them on trust. I believe that there is an island, Australia, of such and such a shape, and so on and so on; I believe that I have great-grand parents and the people who gave themselves out as my parents really were my parents, etc. This belief may never have been expressed; even the thought that it was so, never thought.

to take a proposition on trust –

is to not question it  –  to not doubt it –

it is to be fooled –

or to fool yourself

if I haven’t thought it I can’t believe it –

but if I have thought it – and believe it –

my belief – expressed – or not –

useful as it may be in the circumstances –

is open to question –

open to doubt –

is uncertain

© greg t.charlton. 2009.