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That make ingrateful man! <br>  
That make ingrateful man! <br>  
:—''King Lear'', III, ii}}
:—''King Lear'', III, ii}}
In defence of [[doubt]]; a much-maligned force for good in the world.
In defence of doubt; a much-maligned force for good in the world.
===Certainty===
===Certainty===
From our first law lectures, we imbibed the fundamental interests and objectives of a liberal modern legal system, prominent among them being a profound wish for ''[[certainty]]''. This is a matter of basic [[jurisprudence]]: we hear it, we think, “oh, yes; well, of course,” and nod along as our professor continues on {{sex|her}} mellifluous way.<ref>Mine was especially mellifluous: Hello, Professor Rowe, if you are reading, 32 years later!</ref>
From our first law lectures, we imbibed the fundamental interests and objectives of a liberal modern legal system, prominent among them being a profound wish for ''[[certainty]]''. This is a matter of basic [[jurisprudence]]: we hear it, we think, “oh, yes; well, of course,” and nod along as our professor continues on {{sex|her}} mellifluous way.<ref>Mine was especially mellifluous: Hello, Professor Rowe, if you are reading, 32 years later!</ref>
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And when our energies subside, we have the little pitons that we can jam into nearby fissures for yet further purchase on [[certainty]]: is there one amongst us who has never whispered “''[[for the avoidance of doubt]]''”, not once, even to break some [[tedious]] ''impasse''?  
And when our energies subside, we have the little pitons that we can jam into nearby fissures for yet further purchase on [[certainty]]: is there one amongst us who has never whispered “''[[for the avoidance of doubt]]''”, not once, even to break some [[tedious]] ''impasse''?  


Such is our institutional suspicion of ''[[doubt]]''.  
Such is our institutional suspicion of ''doubt''.  


Note, in that grim phrase of hack lawyering, the word “''[[For the avoidance of doubt|avoidance]]''” — as if doubt is so repulsive to our collective morality we should ''evacuate it'', [[ab initio]], from our bowels, and flush it away, whereupon only then can we lie back into cosy, sterile ''certitude''.
Note, in that grim phrase of hack lawyering, the word “''[[For the avoidance of doubt|avoidance]]''” — as if doubt is so repulsive to our collective morality we should ''evacuate it'', [[ab initio]], from our bowels, and flush it away, whereupon only then can we lie back into cosy, sterile ''certitude''.
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Unexpected shit still, resolutely, ''happens''. Were it not so deeply buried in the piles of our founding mythology, we might even wonder whether our quest for [[certainty]] wasn’t, in itself, the heart of the problem.
Unexpected shit still, resolutely, ''happens''. Were it not so deeply buried in the piles of our founding mythology, we might even wonder whether our quest for [[certainty]] wasn’t, in itself, the heart of the problem.


So here, readers, I present you a spirited, against-the-run-of-play, defence of ''[[doubt]]''.
So here, readers, I present you a spirited, against-the-run-of-play, defence of ''doubt''.


There are logical, psychological, commercial and philosophical grounds to protect it. Bear with me. Let us start at the top and work our way down to the [[elephants and turtles]].
There are logical, psychological, commercial and philosophical grounds to protect it. Bear with me. Let us start at the top and work our way down to the [[elephants and turtles]].
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[[Complex system]]s are not like that. They are “[[non-linear]]”. Non-adjacent components interact in unexpected ways. They do not have pre-defined boundaries. There is no common set of protocols; there are no agreed rules. Information is incomplete, ambiguous, and provisional. The system is not bounded; there is no complete data set: it is in perpetual flux. It is filled with independent systems and agents making their own independent decisions, each one of which alters the contours of the landscape. ''Everything is liable to change''.  
[[Complex system]]s are not like that. They are “[[non-linear]]”. Non-adjacent components interact in unexpected ways. They do not have pre-defined boundaries. There is no common set of protocols; there are no agreed rules. Information is incomplete, ambiguous, and provisional. The system is not bounded; there is no complete data set: it is in perpetual flux. It is filled with independent systems and agents making their own independent decisions, each one of which alters the contours of the landscape. ''Everything is liable to change''.  


In a [[complex system]], [[algorithm]]s do not reliably work. They get in the way. You need ''experienced experts'' who can make educated guesses and provisional decisions based on incomplete information. You need people who are flexible, adaptable, and smart. ''You need people who are good at handling [[doubt]]''. Doubt is not a regrettable externality: it is the ''essence'' of the value proposition. ''Doubt is risk''. Without doubt, there is no reward. We should not seek to avoid, much less eliminate doubt. We should ''seek it out''. The person who succeeds in commerce is the one who is best able to handle ''doubt''.
In a [[complex system]], [[algorithm]]s do not reliably work. They get in the way. You need ''experienced experts'' who can make educated guesses and provisional decisions based on incomplete information. You need people who are flexible, adaptable, and smart. ''You need people who are good at handling doubt''. Doubt is not a regrettable externality: it is the ''essence'' of the value proposition. ''Doubt is risk''. Without doubt, there is no reward. We should not seek to avoid, much less eliminate doubt. We should ''seek it out''. The person who succeeds in commerce is the one who is best able to handle ''doubt''.


===Doubt as a self-enforcing moderator of extreme behaviour===
===Doubt as a self-enforcing moderator of extreme behaviour===
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Now we can, with our word games, do our best minimise indeterminacy. For example, [[legal language]] is ''meant'' to do this, by convention eliminating [[metaphor]], slang and informal constructions; generally sacrificing ''elegance'' for [[certainty]]. Where there remains potential ambiguity, legal language tries to further diminimish it with [[definitions]], but even there, the best we can hope for is that our static document can describe the order, state and function of a simple system. It is beyond the power of any algorithm to describe a complex system.
Now we can, with our word games, do our best minimise indeterminacy. For example, [[legal language]] is ''meant'' to do this, by convention eliminating [[metaphor]], slang and informal constructions; generally sacrificing ''elegance'' for [[certainty]]. Where there remains potential ambiguity, legal language tries to further diminimish it with [[definitions]], but even there, the best we can hope for is that our static document can describe the order, state and function of a simple system. It is beyond the power of any algorithm to describe a complex system.


We start, therefore, in a place where “the only [[certainty]] is [[doubt]]”. Carry on, chaps.  
We start, therefore, in a place where “the only [[certainty]] is doubt”. Carry on, chaps.  


{{sa}}
{{sa}}
*[[For the avoidance of doubt]]
*[[For the avoidance of doubt]]
*[[Complexity]]
*[[Complexity]]
*[[Doubt]]
*doubt
{{ref}}
{{ref}}
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