The Fallacy of the Uncertainty Principle

UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE: There are some who say, ‘All I know, is that I don’t know anything,’ and thus promote what is known by some as the UNCERTAINTY principle. Often such a position is championed as brave, scientific, and free from “religious superstitious dogma.” But the more I think about the position, the more I find such a sentiment unpersuasive. In fact, I would argue the ‘uncertainty principle’ is the way of folly, not wisdom, and is disconnected with how experience reality and the way reality is set up.

Here’s why: First, it commits the logical fallacy of conflation (confusedly combining two things which should not be combined). It conflates the need to be critical with the assertion that EVERYTHING should be questioned. Surely, there are some things we shouldn’t question (validity of our senses, logic), and surely not questioning everything does NOT make one naïve or simple-minded.

Secondly, the uncertainty principle lived out is more in line with Hinduism’s view that all of reality is an illusion, rather than the view that nature is uniform, accessible, and understandable. You can embrace this Eastern mystical view, but one should recognize it as a departure from a traditional Western epistemology.

Thirdly, the “uncertainty principle” is a system of thought that is SELF-REFUTING and ultimately unlivable, for all assertions in the end are uncertain, even to assert that one holds to the uncertainty principle.