There have been a lot of jokes made about ideas of uncertainty. I would like to remind you that you can be pretty sure of things even though you are uncertain, that you don’t have to be so in-the-middle, in fact not at all in-the-middle. People say to me, “Well, how can you teach your children what is right and wrong if you don’t know?” Because I’m pretty sure of what’s right and wrong. I’m not absolutely sure; some experiences may change my mind. But I know what I would expect to teach them. But, of course, a child won’t learn what you teach him. | |
— Richard P. Feynman | |
From his book: “The Meaning of It All“ | |
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Pretty Sure Of Uncertainty
March 3, 2013 by kmabarrett
I believe that children are great modelers. They follow our examples far more than our words or lectures.
Russ
Hi Russ, Thanks for the comment. While I completely agree with you about children and their learning from what we do, not what we say, the quote was more about the nature of being able to teach something we are pretty sure of even when we can’t be 100%, absolutely, scientifically sure of it. Almost by it’s nature, science precludes this kind of certainty. Any failure of confirming data must be cause for the re-evaluation of every “law” or theory to which the data may apply. But this doesn’t mean we must be paralyzed by the lack of certainty. Feynman’s point is that we can still teach right and wrong even when they are not “scientifically” proveable. Sometimes near enough certainty is sufficient.
I personnally have raised my own kids with faith. They need not believe. They only need to know that I believe. My faith is not based on the Bible or hard evidence. My faith is based on love and hope, sunrises, smiles, and spider-webs with the morning dew on them. If I had “proof”, I would not need faith. When they need it, my faith (not necessarily my religion) will be there for them — and then, they’ll have faith too.