Is certainty possible โ or is everything we "know" just a best guess?
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๐ ุนูุฏ ู
ุจุงุฑู ููู ุนุงู
ูุฃูุชู
ุจุฎูุฑ!
First of all โ welcome back, everyone. Eid Mubarak! Hope you had a restful, joyful holiday surrounded by the people you love. It's great to have us all back together, and what better way to ease back in than with good coffee and even better conversation. ๐
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โ This Saturday's Gathering ๐ Sohba Coffee โ Al Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Branch Rd, Al Mursalat, Riyadh 12464
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๐ง This Saturday's Topic: Is certainty possible โ or is everything we "know" just a best guess?
We all walk around feeling like we know things. The sun will rise tomorrow. Your friend is trustworthy. The news story is true. But how much of what we call knowledge is actually just very confident belief?
Philosophers have wrestled with this for centuries โ and never fully settled it. Descartes tried to strip everything down to one thing he couldn't doubt ("I think, therefore I am"). Hume argued that even cause and effect is just a habit of the mind, not something we can actually prove. And in the 20th century, science itself had to confront the idea that even its best theories are provisional โ always one experiment away from being overturned.
Some questions to get us started:
- Is there anything you know with 100% certainty?
- What's the difference between knowing something and being very sure of it?
- If all knowledge is probabilistic, does that make it less real โ or just more honest?
- Can we trust our own reasoning, or are we just rationalizing what we already believe?
No background needed. Just bring your curiosity and your best example of something you'd bet your life on being true.
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๐ A Few Ground Rules โ Please Read:
- Be on time. Respect everyone's Saturday. We start when we said we would.
- Argue for truth, not to be right. The goal is to think better together โ not to win. Leave your ego at the door.
- Order something from Sohba. We're guests in their space โ support them by purchasing a drink or a bite. They've got great iced drinks and the drip coffee comes highly recommended. โ
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See you all Saturday. Looking forward to a great session โ and again, Eid Mubarak to you and your families! ๐๐ค