Certainty Vs. Doubt Does certainty actually provide security, or does it set one for failure? Does doubt cause negativity or does it prepare one for the future? The idea whether certainty or doubt causes the fulfillment of dreams, goals and the future as questioned many. Certainty creates security and assurances, but is anything certain? Nothing in the world is ever certain; one’s world can be flipped upside down in the matters of days, hours, minutes and even a split of a second. Unlike certainty, doubt allows one to know there is a chance that the odds are against one. William Lyon Phelps supports certainty as a factor for success, while Bertrand Russell favors doubt because it creates comfort and prepares one for reality. Using …show more content…
Also, when college letters come and the student is declined from the college they were certain that they would be accepted, then devastation and regret will eat the student for the rest of his/her life. The student will not be emotional prepared to be rejected and will wish they fought harder. Certainty can create a sense of security, but it results in regret, disappointment, and blinds one of the other potentials that could occur. As many would say: “Anything can happen.” Opposite of certainty, doubt creates a motivational drive and prepares one for the forthcoming. Many might say that doubt creates negativity, (which is true) but the chance of not fulfilling a dream or goal makes one take his/her goals seriously and work harder on it because of the negativity. Doubt is explained in Apollo 13, where a group of 3 astronomers were sent to the moon. On their journey to the moon, their spaceship is damaged and they discover that they might not be able to return home. That chance that they might not make it home makes them makes them determined to work harder to fix the ship with materials that they have in space with them. Unlike certainty, doubt helped them accept the possibility that they might not make it home and prepared them for the future. The astronomers made their own protection and doubt played a factor in helping them come home and beat the odds. Similar to the crew of Apollo 13, Eliza Doolittle from Pygmalion proved to
The idea about human to reconcile the uncertainties of the past with a new or present situation. Throughout the year I studied the texts about, novel 1984 by George Orwell, a film Good Will Hunting and Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In these texts because the characters' uncertainty about the past, they won’t succeed in future situations in their lives. I'm referring from the text of how these uncertainties can have an effect for these protagonists throughout the story until they reach tougher situations.
Many times I had walked into the college campus with positive intent on enrolling to better my
In this lifetime, we will make decisions that affect our careers, our families, and countless other important ingredients in our everyday lives. In making these decisions, there should be some measure of doubt, to keep reality in check. But certainty leads to confidence, and the overall ability to make decisions and form opinions. This is why one should be certain, but use doubt to rationalize decisions and opinions.
Throughout high school students strain for good grades, during the preparation of college. Angel B. Perez is an admissions advisor. While questioning students about college, he got an unusual answer. "I look forward to the possibility of failure." This isn’t an answer that you would expect from a student who is not yet accepted. Nonetheless, it was an answer that did get the person noticed. Most people assume that, talking about the ability to fail wouldn’t be such a good idea when talking to the admissions adviser. Yet, Perez wants us to know that, to the college “Perfection doesn't exist, and we don't expect to see it in a college application. In fact, admission officers tend to be skeptical of students who present themselves as individuals
Colleges offer early admittance if students have already decided on which college they wish to attend. When going through early decision making, students may often make mistakes, change their school and majors more than needed. In the article, “Colleges & Early Decision,” written by M. Lee and M. Clapp, the authors introduce an early decision process, which students may access in high school. Students “felt eliminating early decisions would ease
She recalls the struggles, the fun, her failures and even her success in the end (Harding, 2011). The personal story shows the real road it takes with decisions we make “when entering college, Harding wrote that she began college because she felt it was expected of her”(Harding, 2011). College students often make choices based on what they perceive as pressure to do so by others like councilors, parents and even society. They enter college thinking this is what my plan should look like and not making choices that are the best for them. Harding said that in the end “ we all become graduates of one of the finest universities in the world- and already, nobody much cared how we got there”(Harding,2011). To me this shows that even if you pass by the skin of your teeth, you can still fail in the end. A diploma is not the end result that maters the most. Students need to choose colleges that appeal to their needs and goals and not just go to get a diploma. If students spend no time studying weather boarded or not liking their studies, then what difference does the diploma make in the end. Students would just have a degree that often goes unused in life but the costs is ever mounting to these students. The financial cost, the cost of failure, loss of energy and time, causes many students to never finish their education or even to avoid going in the
“The good Lord works in mysterious ways!”, for the Broadway Show, The Color Purple, is probably one of my favorite quotes. Accepting that God’s plan for you may not be what you expect, can be extremely difficult. Most people stubborn-headed, think they know what is best for them. Unfortunately, this cannot always be true and only God knows what’s best for you. Choosing a college can be one of the biggest discussions in anyone’s life. From the application process, to waiting to see if you have been accepted, takes a lot of energy. Like many people, I got rejected from the college of my dreams, but never saw this rejection as a blessing until now.
More often than not, the outcomes of events that occur in a person’s life is the product of the idea of the self-fulfilling prophecy. It is that which “occurs when a person’s expectations of an event make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true” (Adler and Towne, Looking Out, Looking In 66). Or restated, as Henry Ford once put it, “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you’re right!” This brief research paper touches on the two types of self-fulfilling prophecies, those that are self-imposed and those that are imposed by others. Additionally, it gives a discussion on how great of an influence it is in each person’s life, both positively and negatively, and how it consequently helps to mold
Eric Hoover, in “What Colleges Want in an Applicant (Everything)” explains that the college admissions process is very problematic. Many feel the process isn’t fair, focusing too much on testing, financial concerns, alumni status, and other factors that don’t show the type of person each student really is. In fact, several universities, such as Olin’s College of Engineering, have attempted to improve the problem, but for some it seems nearly impossible, or perhaps unnecessary. The hope is to make changes in higher, Ivy League colleges in order to disperse changes beyond.
Father Flynn states, "Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone."
Voltaire once said, “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.” We live in a world that is constantly changing and does not grant the certainty that people desire. But, people want the stability of knowing what is going to happen; this is why certainty is absurd. In his essay The Surety of Fools, Daniel Kahneman provides examples of people using a phenomenon he calls the illusion of validity. These people strongly believe their actions cause a specific outcome, when in reality there is statistical evidence that shows their actions have no direct correlation with the outcome. While Kahneman argues the illusion of validity comes partially from people’s tendency to make quick decisions without fully conveying the causes, it really stems from people’s fear of uncertainty from having a lack of knowledge. Other fields of academia, such as science and economics, have admitted that uncertainty grounds their thinking processes. Kahneman is inaccurate in neglecting to mention that it is the fear of uncertainty that really causes the illusion of validity.
When applying to colleges, many people have different views on the endeavor. Some people think that it is an exciting adventure filled with many turns and twists, and decisions that lead to a different outcome, while others may think that it is a stressful ideal, filled with looming questions, pressure, and “what if’s”. To Alaijah, she believed it was the latter. When I asked her how she felt, she said that it was “A heavy task. However,” She states. “Once you’ve done everything you need to do you feel accomplished.” She feels that way for the simple fact that she knows it will help her accomplish her goal of getting a better future for herself. When I asked if she thought about college a lot, she responded the way most students would respond.
prevents positive ideas from ever coming into reality. It is my understanding that doubt does not pull strings, but slashes them. Where hate would directly empowered itself, doubt would wither and disintegrate positivity, gaining power as positivity loses it. It is with this knowledge of doubt that I have constructed my own definition of it, the killer of dreams, the butcherer of success, and the drainer of confidence.
Uncertainty avoidance refers to the level of anxiety about the future (Hofstede 1980, 2001). Societies that are high in uncertainty avoidance continuously feel the inherent uncertainty in life as a threat that must be
The fourth dimension called Uncertainty Avoidance aims at the way people try to get a