WORD

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It is necessary and true that all of the things we say in science, all
of the conclusions, are uncertain, because they are only conclusions.
They are guesses as to what is going to happen, and you cannot know what
will happen, because you have not made the most complete experiments. .
. Scientists, therefore, are used to dealing with doubt and uncertainty.
All scientific knowledge is uncertain. This experience with doubt and
uncertainty is important. I believe that it is of very great value, and
one that extends beyond the sciences. I believe that to solve any
problem that has never been solved before, you leave the door to the
unknown ajar. You have to permit the possibility that you do not have it
exactly right. Otherwise, if you have made up your mind already, you
might not solve it. . .

If we were not able or did not desire to look in any new direction, if
we did not have a doubt or recognize ignorance, we would not get any new
ideas. There would be nothing worth checking, because we would know what
is true. So what we call scientific knowledge today is a body of
statements of varying degrees of certainty. Some of them are most
unsure; some of them are nearly sure; but none is absolutely certain.
Scientists are used to this. We know that it is consistent to be able to
live and not know. Some people say, 'How can you live without knowing?'
I do not know what they mean. I always live not knowing. That is easy.
How do you get to know is what I want to know.

[Nobel laureate Richard P Feynman, 1963 lectures at the University of
Washington]

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