Skip to main content

The Only Certainty is Uncertainty

 


“Uncertain times” is a refrain that fills UNDP reports, discussions by climatologists, economists, political scientists and filters down to individuals anxious about the future of their children.  It is seen as a sign of our times – an anomaly of our making, of our neglect, suggesting urgent attention will redress and restore all to an even keel.  

However, increasingly scientists propose that uncertainty is a fundamental feature of the universe. American mathematician John Allen Paulos concluded “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is", echoing the 1st century Roman thinker, Pliny the Elder’s statement, "The only certainty is that nothing is certain."

Seeking certainty is a modern construct whose roots can be traced to the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment.  It separated state and religion, promoted reason and scientific inquiry over ‘blind faith’. The truth was what could be experienced by the five senses, be scientifically examined and rationally explained.    Diderot wrote, “If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.” Religion was respected, but as a personal matter.  

As culture critic NBM House puts it “They believed they could conquer the world, solve every problem, and explore every crack and crevice of knowledge. There was nothing they couldn’t figure out, nothing they couldn’t know.”

Before Enlightenment, and in all cultures not influenced by Western philosophers, religious or spiritual beliefs helped people cope with uncertainty. Natural events, personal loss or successes were determined by Divine Will, or cosmic order.

Uncertainty was not a flaw in human understanding, but an opportunity to question, learn, and grow, and uncover the truth. Sufis find peace, not in knowing the answers, but in letting go of the need to know. Sufism treats uncertainty not as a crisis to be feared, but as a sacred space of bewilderment  (hayrah)  that deepens the human connection to the Divine. The Divine Essence is recognized to be beyond human conception. Absolute unknowing is the core of Divine reality.

Yunus Emre, a highly educated Islamic judge, abandoned his prestigious legal position to seek spiritual enlightenment. To erase his ego and intellectual pride, his spiritual master only allowed him to respond to legal and intellectual questions with "I don't know." This is quite the opposite of Descartes’ “I think therefore I am.” Descartes makes the individual ego the center of reality, while Sufism tries to destroy that ego completely.

Postmodern philosophers such as Jean-François Lyotard revived the concept of Positive Unknowing, first proposed in the 13th Century by Thomas Aquinas, who was greatly influenced by Muslim scholars. It is a conscious letting go of fixed beliefs to achieve a deeper spiritual understanding, but also to open a space for new ideas and explorations. Limiting our experience to what our senses can perceive, closes to us the larger dimensions of existence.

Coming down from philosophical heights to everyday concerns, ordinary Pakistanis face their own daily uncertainties - will they get selected for a job, will they reach school on time? Will they have a better life in another country? - as they hurl their bikes across oncoming traffic like surfers riding the waves. Pakistanis living their lives through decades of intense political and economic uncertainty, have understood that they must build resilience rather than try to control unpredictable outcomes.  Learning to live with uncertainty becomes one of life’s greatest skills. It encourages deeper thinking, innovation, open-mindedness, a willingness to listen, and finds strength in collective wisdom. Searching for prescribed or false certainty divides people, and closes the mind.

The arts thrive on uncertainty. Exploring the unknown has inspired art, poetry, music and photography.  Artists feel at ease with ambiguity, exploring the spaces between the known and the unknown. They invite the viewer to see the world from new perspectives. The arts thrive on experimentation. Creative people step into the unknown not to find answers but to celebrate the complexity and wonder of the world around us and engage with the mysteries of existence. Unknowing is not the same as ignorance, but becomes a positive state.

To quote NBM House “A painting, a poem, or a melody does not solve a mystery — it deepens it, allowing us to glimpse truths that cannot be articulated in formulas or theories.”

 

Durriya Kazi

September 7, 2026

Karachi

durriyakazi1918@gmail.com  

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taking Care of the Little Things

  The American poet, Emily Dickinson, said “take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves”. The words seem timid in a time that urges big ideas, big conglomerates, and policies that are applied with a broad brush on a global canvas. Individual acts can grow into movements. Abdul Sattar Edhi, the award winning social worker of Pakistan, would be seen trundling a wheelbarrow through markets collecting funds for healthcare, ten rupees at a time, or standing with arms outstretched for donations in the middle of the traffic. The Edhi Foundation single handedly gave hope to a whole generation and established a methodology that others emulate. A.K.Khan, a horticulturist from Allahabad who migrated to Karachi, not only transformed a dusty city into a green oasis, but he introduced the concept of landscaping domestic gardens in the city, establishing it as a profession for others to follow. Societies focus on human achievements, seeing nature only as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Decorated Trucks of Pakistan

International Institute for Asian Studies / Association for Asian Studies / Asia Committee, European Science Foundation First International Convention of Asia Scholars Leeuenhorst Conference Centre, Noordwijkerhout , Netherlands , 25-28 June, 1998 Panel: “ Shaking the Tree: New Approaches to Asian Art” / Session: Decorated Transport Decorated Trucks of Pakistan Durriya Kazi June 1998. Karachi Meaning is always in process, what has been called “a momentary stop in a continuing flow of interpretations of interpretations”. This paper pauses at some facts and some observations about decorated trucks of Pakistan , a subject that has elicited tantalisingly few studies. Pakistan is often presented geographically and thus historically as the corridor of land between the mountain passes that separated the near East from the plains of India . Less mentioned and more significant is its identity as the valley of the River Indus which has historically ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Theatre of the Absurd

  @maraybhai100 uploads reels that resemble no other in the prolific world of Pakistani memes. Pakistani memes, like their Indian cousins, are brilliant nuggets of self-reflective humour, reaching their true genius during the recent skirmish between India and Pakistan. Maray Bhai’s reels have more in common with the existential Theatre of the Absurd than the usual amusing reels.    They are off-the-wall, pure chaos beginning in a calm pseudo-scientific tone using Google Maps, and the Solar Smash app, as if about to offer a solution to regional crises. They soon derail into an existential distraction, as the lines he draws over countries, turn into doodles of animals or people. Behind the levity there is the shadow of real regional issues and the existential threat of war and nuclear annihilation.   The Theatre of the Absurd describes plays written in the aftermath of WWII that reflected a chaotic, and illogical world, where one accepts, with sarcastic laughter,...
Post a Comment
Read more