If you want to be certain, thinking is not for you

The quest for absolute certainty is an immature, if not infantile, trait of thinking (Herbert Feigl)

Why people want so much certainty, certitude ? Why do they want to be sure ? What is certain in life, except death and taxes ? Even mathematical demonstration are not certain since they are based on premises which we must accept before deploying the reasoning. In science nothing is sure neither : the very foundations of science is that for a theory to be called a theory it needs to be trialed with experiments which might prove it is false. This is called the falsifiability principle enounced by Popper.

Who wants certainty ? Good students for a start

Who wants certainty ? Good students for a start. They will not give you an answer before they are sure it will be accepted by the teacher : they have too much to lose if they fail, namely their credibility as good student, probably earned after a long series of academic successes. In philosophy they make poor students because you are never sure when you answer a philosophical question : you just risk it and see if it works, if it fits, if it makes sense, if it's coherent and why not aesthetic for that matter ? But for sure you don't want to be sure. You just make an hypothesis and put it to trial, possibly by submitting to the judgment of others it they are available for this demanding task.

During a philosophy consultation I often have this phenomenon : I ask the person what his initial question is. Often there is a great deal of hesitation leading to confusion. Then I ask : “why is it so difficult for you to come up with a question ?” And the answer is : “because I am not sure if this is the right question.”Well, I reply ,who said you had to come up with the right question ? Just come with a question and that'll do.” As if our being had a unique entry point (because the philosophy consultation is aimed at seeing who you are, how you think and behave), a unique door that only this particular question could open. “All ways lead to Rome” as we say in french so "don't worry we will get to your core whatever the question is."

People want to be sure because they are insecure, not because they search for the absolute truth. If that was not the case they would just pick a religion and turn to faith where certainty is an undisputable a priori (and there is nothing wrong about that).

Thinking is not for the good student

Thinking is not made for people who want to be sure (that is why religious people also make good philosophers, they already have sorted out the insecurity problem) but for people who want to discover, to take risks, to commit to hypothesis, to forget about image or being clever or smart. This is not an exercise for the good student but for the adventurer. That is why children are good at philosophical practice : they are not looking for certainty or being reassured, they don't care they just want to understand (well, at least up to a certain certain age, around 10, before they start to want to become a "good student"). That does not mean that thinking is a free idea association exercice : thinking demands a great rigor and specific skills (see the skills developed in the philosophy practice) and attitudes.

Indeed the Feigl quote is paradoxical : it’s indeed infantile to look for certainty because it means you do not take responsibility for your own thinking and children have no responsibility. But on the other hand children are not looking for certainty in the thinking process otherwise they would not answer any question spontaneously as they often do.