The illusion of certainty
It’s nearly impossible to know with absolute certainty that something is true.
There are only a few things in life we are able to verify for ourselves. I am certain my keys are in my pocket because I can feel them. I’m not certain if my favorite sweatshirt is in my closet or my hamper at the moment, but I could find out by checking.
Therefore, we can only be absolutely certain about something by verifying it for ourselves.
However, we often believe things without verifying them firsthand because life demands it. I’m not going to test whether the food I buy at the grocery store is contaminated. I assume it’s safe every time, short of my mom sending me an article about the latest E. coli outbreak.
The same can be said about what we read and hear. We are not in the room when major political, economic, or business decisions get made. Instead, we learn about those decisions through various channels and must evaluate for ourselves whether we trust what is being shared.
If Persons A, B, and C each have different accounts of a private, off-the-record conversation, who should we believe? One, two, all, or none of them? You can only be so certain in these cases.
Ultimately, living in modern society requires trusting information we can’t directly verify. This has profound downstream implications—especially as the flow and volume of information, both from humans and AI, grows daily.
I’m obsessed with building solutions to help us navigate this moment. If they prove useful, maybe we’ll be a bit more certain.
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