The Falsity of Certitude

Something that took me quite some while to overcome was the falsity of others’ certitude. Online, on the internet, people love to speak out of both sides of their mouths. On the one side, one cannot ever really be sure of anything, but yet on the other side, one can be utterly certain of all manner of things– often without any proof beyond the most anecdotal.

One can find this false certitude offline, but it is so much more omnipresent online. I read regularly some examples of it, and their fixed belief that their handful of anecdotes are more accurate than any other data (anecdotal or otherwise) is immensely distracting. It can get one to believing that maybe you’re wrong, since they seem so darned certain. This is a variant of the Greater Sucker Fallacy, and an especially cruel one.

By arguing not only from authority, but from a falsely invested authority at that, the people who are ’so sure’ pillage their own chosen philosophies of any lasting value. All they leave is the notion that if you yell loudly enough that you are right and your experience is the only valid/real/legitimate experience, then you can write your own truthiness.

And this is cruel because it’s so seriously taken. There’s no sarcasm or jesting air– this is considered the real way to bring your views to the table. And yes, the loudness, the absolute, egomaniacal self-righteousness involved can be very persuasive– but it is ultimately false, empty and inaccurate. It creates the unfortunate situation where if your belief structure has any merit, that merit is crushed when people realise your certitude is just a false, inflated sense of entitlement rather than something that emanates from your beliefs.

It’s kinda sad, it’s endemic to the internets, and it infects all that I find interesting to read or ponder. Another time I will expound with explicit examples.