Certainty Quote by Eric Temple Bell
“Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the uncritical mind for what it imagines to be certainty or finality impels it to feast upon shadows in the prevailing famine of substance.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Last Problem, 1935
The mind craves certainty, so it clings to empty ideas when true substance is lacking.
In simple terms: People seek certainty and grasp at emptiness.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions and seek evidence.
Themes
certainty
mindset
knowledge
illusion
Mood
reflective
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
critical
When to use this quote
- academic research
- personal decision making
- media consumption
- political debate
Key Concepts
epistemology
psychology
critical thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- What beliefs do you hold without evidence?
- How can you tolerate uncertainty?
A Different Perspective
The desire for certainty can also motivate rigorous inquiry when balanced.
![“The full impact of the Lobachevskian method of challenging axioms has probably yet to be felt. It is no exaggeration to call Lobachevsky the Copernicus of Geometry [as did Clifford], for geometry is only a part of the vaster domain which he renovated; it might even be just to designate him as a…” quote by Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a75/eric-temple-bell-26465_challenges_the-full-impact-of-the-lobachevskian-met_272905.jpg)
![“[As a young teenager] Galois read [Legendre's] geometry from cover to cover as easily as other boys read a pirate yarn.” quote by Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/377/eric-temple-bell-26465_books_as-a-young-teenager-galois-read-legendre_645854.jpg)
![“Poincaré [was] the last man to take practically all mathematics, pure and applied, as his province. ... Few mathematicians have had the breadth of philosophic vision that Poincaré had, and none in his superior in the gift of clear exposition.” quote by Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3f5/eric-temple-bell-26465_clear_poincar-was-the-last-man-to-take-practic_880815.jpg)
![“[I]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics, in so far as disposed through it we are able to reach certainty in other sciences and truth by the exclusion of error.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d13/roger-bacon-15067_able_i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-a_24209.jpg)