Absolutely Certain or Not

祝青

A Liberal Decalogue， a remarkable micro-manifesto from the third volume of The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell expressing his vision for responsibilities of a teacher， illumines my pondering on the purpose of education， the merit of uncertainty， the significance of critical thinking， and more. Among the ten commandments， the first one has the most profound impact upon me.

I do believe absolute certainty brings great harm to every individual， especially teachers. If a teacher holds absolute certainty， standard answers will be created to erode vulnerable students thinking and produce them like the products from the assembly line. If teachers label students to shorten the range of their attention， many students will surely lose the confidence of being a success and many possibilities will be annihilated. For example， before entering the university， my teachers all believed I was not suitable for monitor concerning my irritability， so I also thought I was not competent to do it. However， last year， I was recommended by classmates to be monitor. The result was that I communicated well with teachers in the office of Academic Affairs and dealt patiently with tremendous work to construct the class. With my constant efforts， both the academic atmosphere and the strong solidarity of our class gained a lot admiration. Now that I could perform well when given the opportunity， so do many students who encountered or are encountering the similar denial.

Absolute certainty is also a malevolent tumour for those who are not teachers. It sometimes hurts the credibility of authority. For instance， last year， the US presidential election in which the polls and pundits all firmly announced that Hilary Clinton would certainly defeat Donald Trump but the result was opposite. The reliability of those institutions was greatly threatened. Of course， such certainty bothers common people very often， like me. The first time I came to Shanghai， I visited Foreign Languages Bookstore with my friend. After that， we wanted to take a bus to Peoples Square， but an argument arose between us for there are buses and one shows the last stop is “Peoples Square” which my friend thought we should take while the other is “Peoples Square Huaihai Road” which I thought so. In the end， I gave in because my ration chose to believe one who had been to Shanghai for three times. However， after getting off the bus， we walked about one thousand metres to “Peoples Square Huaihai Road”. Thence， I fear of trusting her since that day.

Notwithstanding the above， I also believe that absolute certainty of many things will certainly bring benefits under some circumstances. Being certain that every student has their own potential in some fields will lead teachers treat everyone with equal amiable attitude and drive them to discover the shimmer of everyone. Being certain that teachers words will definitely affect students will urge them to act as an exemplary person and encourage them to give earnest advice to students rather than knowledge only. Being certain that there are also numerous advantages of teaching in a remote rural place will stimulate more teachers to teach in those areas and balance education resources.

As for an individual， being absolutely certain that one is not inferior to any others will make them much more confidence. Being certain that tomorrow will be better can encourage one to work harder. Being certain that others criticisms might not be believable will prevent one from being hurt by rumours. Last but not least， being certain that even the words from the experts will sometimes be paradox itself will endow one a critical and sceptical vision and prevent being cheated. For instance， “Do not feel absolutely certain of anything” itself is an absolute certainty since we should be absolutely certain of some things in some certain cases. Hence， it would be better to replace the word “anything” with “many things.”

In conclusion， keep an incredulous attitude towards many things before enough evidence is found and keep absolute certain of some things that will benefit one to live a better life.