Rattlesnakes, black widows, and cyanide are all pretty damn poisonous. However, I believe that there is one thing on Planet Earth that is more poisonous than any animal or substance. It can't be held in your hands. You can't bottle it. You can't physically see it, but we poison each other with it all the time.
The most poisonous thing on planet Earth is certainty.
When humans are certain that they are correct, or that they have the correct interpretation of reality, diplomacy and dialogue are quickly abandoned. In our intellectual hubris, certainty ensures that we will quickly divide our fellow human beings into enemy camps. When we are certain, we have closed the door to the possibility for compromise, change, and compassion.
How many priests that victimized children have been protected, due to the certainty that the clergy is a manifestation of God on Earth?
How many "witches" were burned, due to a foolish certainty that witches even existed in the first place?
How many needless wars have been fought, due to our certainty that our nation was the greatest?
I would hate to see the true cost of certainty. The inability to change our minds keeps us locked up in archaic ways of thinking. Certainty allows good people to do terrible things, because they have stopped thinking critically.
The need for certainty stems from fear. We want to be certain, because we are afraid of a world where knowledge is merely provisional. We fear a world in which what we know to be true today, might not be true tomorrow. Unfortunately, knowledge is provisional, even if that makes you uncomfortable to admit.
You are allowed to be 99.99% certain of many things, but the chasm between 99.99% and 100% is vast and wide. That chasm is filled with ignorance and hate. It is so dangerous to cross, that is isn't worth attempting. The saving grace of humanity might be the 0.01% of doubt we reserve that we could be wrong.
Divisive religious ideologies disintegrate without certainty. Bipartisan squabbling stops when certainty is removed. Eliminate certainty, and our biases towards each other become fragile and easily broken.
Therefore, I am only certain of one thing: the world would be a better place without certainty.
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