Why Does David Deutsch Reject All Certainty?

David Deutsch says people should aspire not to have any certainty. People should aspire to uncertainty. For a life of scientific research, it is highly desirable to enjoy the sensation of being baffled and of being in a state of conflict, when something looks true and still cannot be true. The sensation of being baffled is what attracts him to scientific research. He does not think one should even aspire to believe anything.

Belief, he says, is a corrupt kind of category that has come down from Plato and later from Christianity and Islam. Most religions do not value belief. They value ritual, conformity, and ways of life. Belief was something introduced by Christianity. Percy Shelley, in the essay for which he got expelled from Oxford University, pointed out that a person cannot believe or disbelieve something by an act of will. It has to come via reason. Calling disbelief an immoral thing does not make sense.