Doubt and Certainty in Success Essay Example

People, however good they believe their intentions to be, if they force their beliefs/rules onto others can do more harm than good. Society has taught people the concept that if someone is certain in their beliefs then they can achieve all of their desires. Unfortunately this is untrue because people cannot simply lean on their own certainty to lead them in life because nothing but facts are truly certain. Doubts are what keep people safe from making regrettable decisions, as they allow people to set boundaries. Without doubt people would be overly unpredictable. Therefore making the world significantly more unstable than it currently is. In contrast to William Lyon Phelps teachings, Bertrand Russell’s teachings of not forcing opinions onto others reflect the needs of today's society, due to the growing strain in society over things such as politics, sexuality, race, and religion which many people have differing opinions on that cause divisions in communities. Although some people, including minorities and political leaders, may argue that doubts prevent people from being successful, doubts are necessary to create certainties in order to be successful. Specifically, doubts lead people to question what they believe which often results in certainty in one’s beliefs, which is necessary for success and also one cannot be certain of their beliefs if they have not doubted, asked questions, and tested their beliefs because it could inhibit their success . 

Doubt is essential because it promotes curiosity and leads people to question what they believe in order to improve their certainty. The women’s rights movement in the 1860’s, during Phelps’ era, was one of the more prominent examples in history where people started to question their beliefs. During these times the women in Europe had almost no rights as they were seen as property by the men in power and because of this, they began to question why they were being treated as less than men resulting in petitions, riots, and revolts against the lack of women’s rights. Nevertheless, people may voice concern about how having too much doubt may lead to fear and inaction. An example of this would be the writing presses. Having writer's block and questioning the quality of one's work prevents one from completing what needs to be completed, and therefore results in failure. There are ways around this, however, such as asking questions and seeking answers. The searching of answers and the ability to ask questions is a great way to tackle self-doubt which leads to certainty. With that certainty, writers struggling with writer’s block can achieve success.  

Certainty is dependent on doubt since one cannot be certain of something without experiencing trial and error and questioning/testing their beliefs, because without this process success can be hindered. For example, if  the Wright brothers had full certainty that their plane would fly on the first try and did not test it several times, their certainty would have just been a hope and not a definite fact. The Wright brothers had initially built gliders, not planes, but the gliders encouraged their curiosity and that curiosity changed the world of travel as people know it. This supports Russell’s claim that doubt is always something to be entertained, because if they hadn’t been open to doubting their work and had been certain that the gliders were enough they would’ve never built planes. Their curiosity and ability to doubt themselves is what has led the current world to having safe air transportation and technology. However the question can be raised, “If one does go out to question their beliefs and gets fed misinformation how could they still be successful?” For example, misinformation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, like a mask does nothing to prevent the spread and if you have the virus once you can’t get it again, has left several American citizens with a false sense of success as they think they are safe from this deadly virus. Misinformation is a widely spreading issue in today's society, especially with the growing popularity of social media as it can invoke a false sense of certainty in those who believe themselves to be right because they found research to support the beliefs. Although it is possible to find misinformation online that can hinder one's certainty in their beliefs, a way to prevent this is to find your information on well known sources and to do extensive research on topics before you believe your ideals to be certain. It is very important for any belief that someone holds to make sure to find out information about that belief from reliable sources and to question/test your information so that they don't only rely on their own certainty. This is since most everything that people know to be true has been proven to be true through trial and error. They have also been proven to be true by people being brave enough to have doubts and to ask questions, therefore furthering their knowledge and leading them to success. 

Finally, this debate of how doubt and certainty are intertwined has been entrenching minds since before Phelps’ and Russell’s times. Many argue that certainty is necessary for success, while others argue that doubts are necessary to achieve success. However, both of these positions would be correct because you cannot have one without the other. The reason for this is that you cannot be certain of anything that has not been proved to be true through trial and error, so you have to have the ability to question what you believe to be certain in order to truly become certain in your beliefs, which leads to success. This is specifically relevant in current society with so many people having conflicting views, and all of those people desiring their views to be the correct one. Russell’s claims mirror what society needs to value today, as members of society should never force anyone “to believe in any philosophy,” because no one can really be certain that what they believe is right. However one thing is certain, both doubt and certainty are absolutely necessary in the development of any brilliant idea.