Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I often hear people speak with great certainty. Further consideration, however, reveals almost no certainty.

People like to speak with great certainty. I write those words because I often hear people speak with great certainty. If people don’t like to do that, why do they do it almost all the time? Great puzzles for me.

Despite the certainty in the speech, further consideration often reveals almost no certainty. 1 + 1 = 2. Certainty. Consistency. Aha. We are getting somewhere.

“So-and-so believes such-and-such,” said with great certainty. But really? How does the speaker know what old Mr. So-and-so believes? Has the speaker confirmed all this with Mr. So-and-so? Can we talk to Mr. So-and-so on the phone right now and confirm this? Is there any hesitancy from the speaker to call Mr. So-and-so right now? Hmm.

“I spoke with So-and-so last week and I believe he is leaning towards such-and-such,” said with great hesitancy. Aha. Now we are making progress. This is candor and honesty.

People, however, understand that the certain statement is just a short way of saying the hesitant statement. Don’t they? Need I say all those extra words every time?

I guess I am not smart enough to understand that the shorter version means the longer version. I like to hear the words. Perhaps we can take the time and energy to say the extra words and show hesitancy instead of certainty. We can do better.