Very certain

Daily writing promptList 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.View all responses

Certainly be
cautious of
certain offers
In certainty

Absolutes
Absolutely
Unavailable
Solutions

Unknown
Unknowns
Absolute
Certainty

I learned something preparing this post. I have been living with the idea that there are three spheres of knowledge, known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. You can imagine that they are nested within one another, concentric rings that are each larger until the final which is unknown in scale. Appropriately so.

My understanding is that this connected back to Aristotle, a mistaken reference, It is not that old, but references a Johari Window. Which is considerate of others, link to the image is here.

I do enjoy the nested circles with a consideration of scale and humility that should be drawn from thinking in this way. This model is also called the Rumsfeld Model, which makes this style of thinking incredibly contemporary, where I thought it had a classical origin. Rumsfeld being Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld.

Regardless, anyone who trades in certainties, should be viewed with a skeptical eye. There are some items we are pretty confident in, but it is important to do your own thinking on any topic.

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Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash