Certainty vs. Doubt

The ability to be undoubtedly sure of something is a golden quality; however, it can also be a destructive quality if taken advantage of. Certainty and doubt go hand in hand: too much certainty can make a person close-minded and ignorant—on the other hand, too much doubt makes a person unreliable in decision making, which is an important life-skill. Certainty and doubt should be equal in one’s life; they help to solidify opinion and personality and are key tools in learning experience. As children, humans spend the first few years of their lives learning from their surroundings. They gain opinion and personality on what they hear and see. Not knowing any better, a child will naively believe what they are told, certain that it is true because they do not know better; it is part of life to learn that not everything one hears is accurate. Children are freshly exposed to life and must learn the ways of the world through their environment. If a child is told an extraordinary tale that would be seen as absurd in the minds of adults, said child may be willing to believe it despite obvious evidence against it—like Santa Clause. The holly, jolly, red-clad elf is a common story often told to children during the holiday season. Though used with the thought of spreading an extra hint of joy to further help in the Christmas spirit, there are some points that even a child would find fault with. A man with an army of elves creates toys in the North Pole year-round, and then he delivers these toys all around the world in one night by riding in a sleigh drawn by eight flying reindeer and squeezing through chimneys. A cute story to tell around the Christmas tree, but a star-gazed child who spends his/her first few Christmases waiting for Santa (who kind of resembles Uncle Jim) will be immensely disappointed when they discover the true story. The child will eventually be told, or