on certainty 441

441. In a court of law the assurance “I know…” on the part of a witness could convince no one. It must be shown that he was in a position to know.

Even the assurance “I know that that’s a hand”, said while someone looked at his own hand, could not be credible unless we knew the circumstances in which it was said. And if we do know them, it seems to be an assurance that the person speaking is normal in this respect.

the assurance ‘I know’ – is a claim to authority –

and it really should convince no-one

any ‘knowledge’ you have of circumstance –

will be uncertain

I think it probably is normal –

to claim to know –

but if so –

it’s normal to be pretentious –

and false

© greg t. charlton. 2010.