Certainty is delusional
Embracing contradiction is the approach
Most people would view being absolutely certain about a decision as an ideal though unattainable goal. In other words, that we should strive for making the “right” decision and even more fundamentally that there is the one right decision, that it actually exists.
While no one would dispute that it is hard to make the right decision and often impractically so, most people think that the only reason they are unable to do that is complexity not possibility. They think that certainty is the goal we should always strive towards even though we may never realistically reach it due to how complex the world is.
The reality is that the world is fundamentally uncertain.
That is to say that it works in terms of likelihoods and probabilities not deterministic absolutes. And even those probabilities are dynamic not static. The probability of a certain outcome given the current situation is always changing because nothing is truly static.
In fact, the only things that are truly certain are things that we define. 1 + 1 = 2 because that’s the definition of all those symbols and their relationship with each other.
But when it comes to making decisions, we are rarely dealing with one of these domains. Because if we were then we’re not really talking about certainty but correctness.
In other words, it is not quite right to say that “1+1=2” is certain, it is more accurate to say that in the context of our shared system of mathematics we say that “1+1=2” is correct.
While it sounds practical and reasonable that there is *the* right decision that we should aim for and inevitably fall short, this approach actually blocks us from success in general because it prevents us from seeing the world as it truly is.
The problem is that inherent in the idea of “the correct decision” is a sense of staticness. That the world is a certain way and, though complex, there is a specific path to follow to go from where we are to where we want to be.
There is a sense that we make *the* decision and then are along for the ride. Sure, we have to make multiple decisions along the way, but the implication behind this approach is that you are moving from decision to decision, that the path is a series of straight lines between decision points.
But the world is not discrete, it is continuous. It is not in a single complex defined state that requires a single “correct” decision.
Instead the world works through relationships not atomic points in the time. Relationships between people but also relationships more broadly between objects, events, the contextual environment, etc.
These relationships are always shifting, due to factors beyond our control and directly due to our own actions. So in order to be successful we need to shift with them.
So does this mean that we can’t make decisions because we can’t be sure? Not at all. We naturally deal with uncertainty all the time.
When we walk without falling over our bodies are not calculating a discrete series of muscular actions. Instead there is a dynamic, constant set of relationships that are being maintained between our various senses, muscles, neurons etc, between those and the external world, between all that and our overall goal of getting somewhere.
This isn’t just the way our unconscious motor control works, this is the way the world works. All aspects of a situation are immediately present to varying degrees.
And so when we need to chart our path, we can’t take one sided points of view because that only pushes us in one direction. That is going back to the idea of paths between decision points.
Instead we need to think in terms of dynamic tension, of forces in balance.
When we walk, we don’t just use one set of muscles, there is a complex interplay of all our muscles including ones that oppose each other. By engaging opposing muscles, you give yourself the ability to minutely react in either direction.
You move your body by contradictory forces slightly in imbalance, not by one force in only one direction. You make progress in your life in the same way.
If we see some situation and have the certainty of what is wrong and what is right, then make what we think is the “right” decision, it is like using only one side of our muscles and as a result we can only proceed in one direction. We are missing the nuance that allows us the degree of fine control needed to constantly adjust our path.
When we deal with our lives and interactions with externalities, be they people or the world all around, we can’t take one view, we must in effect take all points of view at once and slightly adjust here and there.
This sounds like we’re being tossed around helplessly but the reality is the world being uncertain is an opportunity not a danger. It means that even when things are not going right , we can still engage with the world.
The sense you should have is the continuity of dancing, ie a smooth flow of interactions, one into the other, that have a dynamic structure to them but are still ultimately a continuously changing motion.
You don’t make the one discrete decision, you make a series of choices and both consciously and unconsciously evaluate the situation to adjust your course. You engage constantly and continuously as your actions are modulated by externalities.
You take in new information and react to it, modifying your actions not to bring you back to your path, because that doesn’t exist separately, but rather to build your path.
The only truly static thing is the past because that is the way we perceive reality. The only final decision is death.
In between life is about engaging in a way that allows for possibility.
