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Topic: Degrees of certainty

	Certainty
		Degrees of certainty are so important to elemental theory that differing degrees have different names.
		Virtual certainty =df a state of conviction concerning the truth value of a proposition that is so thoroughly established by substantial support that a denial would be absurd.
		Metaphysical certainty is the term some philosophers apply to the highest degree of certainty possible for humans to attain.
	www.plusroot.com /dbook/22Certain.html (2552 words)

	Sinop298
		We have distinct forms and different degrees of certainty, from those of the common man, the philosopher and the scientist, to those of the logical-mathematical and natural sciences, and certainties of a moral and human kind; they all, however, appear to have in common a human and historic character.
		Certainty is revealed as a social construction which attempts to do the impossible, namely to fully symbolize and neutralize the real in the Lacanian sense of the word.
		Certainty has to do with the (christian) metaphysical belief that there is a type of sentences, which are evident and true under all historical and cultural conditions.
	www.zrc-sazu.si /www/fi/Vestniki/Sinop298.htm (1092 words)

	Certainty
		Certainty is a lack of doubt about some state of affairs.
		There is no universally accepted definition of this second kind of certainty, but it usually has something to do with the justification or warrant for believing a proposition: a proposition is epistemically certain if it has, let us say, a maximal warrant.
		Our certainty of the truth of God comes ultimately, not through rational demonstration or empirical verification, useful as these may often be, but from the authority of God’s own word.
	www.frame-poythress.org /frame_articles/2005Certainty.htm (2442 words)

	Certainty
		Certainty is the acceptance of a fact without doubt.
		The term "degrees of certainty" is used to describe how close we are to being certain.
		Certainty could have no meaning when applied to an omniscient being, since it wouldn't have the capacity for doubt.
	www.importanceofphilosophy.com /Epistemology_Certainty.html (257 words)

	Stand to Reason Blog: "Certain" Misunderstanding
		There's debate over whether the desire for certainty is the undue influence of modernism and rationalism or whether the rejection of certain and embrace of doubt is the undue influence of our postmodern times.
		Certainty and knowledge are not an all or nothing endeavor.
		John Frame has a great article on "certainty." Certainty falls into the area of philosophy called epistemology, and this is an example of where it has practical application to Christianity and apologetics.
	str.typepad.com /weblog/2006/05/certain_misunde.html (359 words)

	Degrees of certainty by Jabril Muhammad (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		There is the probability or certainty resulting from the application of man’s power of judgment and his appraisement of evidence.
		This is ‘lim-ul-yaqin,’ certainty by reasoning or inference.
		The highest degree of certainty is mentioned or described, and how to achieve it is mentioned in several places in the scriptures.
	www.finalcall.com /artman/publish/printer_2600.shtml (1076 words)

	Docs.Rage.Net: /faq/suicide_methods (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		Certainty: not sure, but it sounds good if you eat enough Notes: [4]: All parts of the plant, _except_ for the fleshy red bit of the fruit, contain poisons.
		Certainty: unknown Notes: Combine it with alcohol, since a combination of alc & H is much more dangerous than alc or H alone.
		Certainty: Fairly certain, assuming that you managed to gut yourself properly before passing out with the agony Notes: Painful, even the macho Samurai used a 'second' to decapitate them at the appropriate point, so don't expect to do much more than give yourself peritonitis.
	docs.rage.net /faq/suicide_methods (9913 words)

	[No title]
		Different study designs carry different degrees of certainty in considering whether a disease is caused by an occupational exposure.
		The study design with the highest degree of certainty is the controlled clinical trial, in which similar exposure and control groups would be exposed to a substance of interest, and disease outcome is observed.
		This can be done with a high degree of certainty, however (as for example, with establishing that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer and emphysema).
	www.aoec.org /Asthmagen_Pro_7-25-02.doc (2245 words)

	3 Backward Chaining with Uncertainty
		The certainty factors (preceded by cf) are integers from -100 for definitely false, to +100 for definitely true.
		For example rules 5 and 6 reflect the varying degrees of certainty with which one can conclude that the car is out of gas.
		The premise had a certainty factor of 50, and the conclusion a certainty factor of 80, thus yielding an adjusted conclusion CF of 40.
	www.amzi.com /ExpertSystemsInProlog/03backwarduncertainty.htm (3274 words)

	ADLER ARCHIVE: Dr. Adler's Briefing Room Extension
		Certainty attaches to judgments beyond the shadow of doubt; not certain are judgments made with a reasonable doubt; and less certain still are judgments made by a preponderance of the evidence.
		The last two are judgments to which some degree of probability must be attached, the former more probable, the latter less probable.
		Certainty and probability qualify our judgments about the matters under consideration on the propositions entertained with suspended judgment.
	radicalacademy.com /adlerbriefing8.htm (1780 words)

	Grammar Online http
		We saw that modals are used to indicate degrees of certainty, and ability.
		"Degree of certainty" refers to how sure we are-what we think the chances are-that something is true.
		Remember that would, could and might are used when the degree of probability is 50% less.
	www.sabri.org /Grammar/Consider-L5-c.htm (1045 words)

	ashweb methods: traditional a.s.h methods file
		Certainty: unknown Notes: Combine it with alcohol, since a combination of alc and H is much more dangerous than alc or H alone.
		Certainty: good if you don't get found Notes: Soak your cloths in water, get into freezer / outside somewhere where you won't be found.
		Certainty: So-so, put a couple of cans of petrol on the passenger seat to make it certain, and USE YOUR SEATBELT Notes: Bridges are usually protected in the UK, don't know about USA.
	ash.spaink.net /methods.html (10983 words)

	[No title]
		Several years ago at my high school, one of the janitors innocently mixed together half a bottle of bleach with half a bottle of of ammonia in a small closet where the cleaning fluids were kept.
		May be difficult to stop pulling your head out of the way - OD on sleeping tablets first * Calle: A news notice from California posted to alt.suicide.holiday tells the story of a man who comitted suicide nearly cut his own head off with a chainsaw.
		Basic idea is to tie one end of the rope around your neck, tie the other end to a real solid object, get into the car and accelerate away as fast as the car can manage.
	www.depressed.org /suicide/suicidefaq.txt (9612 words)

	[No title]
		For example, a phrase like ``the temperature is moderate today'' does not give a precise value of the temperature, but rather an interval of possible values.
		So in addition to representing these statements,one should somehow represent their degrees of uncertainty.
		In traditional mathematics, probability theory is a well- developed formalism in which probabilities represent such degrees of uncertainty.If we have complete knowledge of the frequencies with which different statements turn out to be true, we can get precise values for the corresponding probabilities.
	www.cs.cmu.edu /afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/ai-repository-2/ai/pubs/lists/uncertainty/digests/digest.14apr92 (1726 words)

	Archbishop Donoghue
		Faith is rewarded, not by bliss, but by increasing degrees of certainty, increasing insight, increasing knowledge of what is happening to us, and what will probably happen to us in the next world.
		We say "increasing" and "probably" because certainty is not to be given us - certainty is the beatific vision, and it belongs only to the saints in Heaven.
		It is a thing we hope for -and the desire for it, is an itch upon our souls, an aggravation that drives us to deeper inquiry, to deeper experience, and to increased resignation to the will of the Lord for us, increased surrender of our own will for ourselves.
	www.archatl.com /archbishops/donoghue/ab-0318.html (456 words)

	[No title]
		There seems to be, in short, an unbridgeable gulf between our ordinary confidence in the absolute certainty of our common sense knowledge about our immediate environment on the one hand, and valid reasons capable of providing support for this confidence, on the other hand.
		All the time, in our lives, we carelessly take for granted that a whole lot of matters of fact are known to us with such absolute certainty that we are prepared to entrust our life to their truth without a moment’s thought.
		The real difference between science and religion — most dogmatic religions that is — is that whereas science subjects its articles of faith to sustained critical scrutiny, modifying them in the direction of that which seems most fruitful from the standpoint of the growth of knowledge, dogmatic religion does nothing of the kind.
	philsci-archive.pitt.edu /archive/00002259/01/Practical_Certainty_and_Cosmological_Conjectures.doc (6505 words)

	Reports: Brayer Handwriting International - Expert Court Testimony, Seminars, CLE Programs, Handwriting and Signature ...
		Highest degree of confidence in one's opinion that the handwriting belongs to the identified party.
		Significant indicators suggest the handwriting samples compared were written by the same person; more data is needed to support a higher degree of certainty.
		For all practical purposes, "a high degree of certainty" is the most desirable opinion, in the absence of "beyond any doubt".
	www.antiforgery.com /reports.htm (208 words)

	Distinguishing Patterns of Assumption in Dialogue with Aliens: Communicating with Aliens
		The "progressive" stages in the structure are designed to isolate zones of relative certainty within a global pattern which configures incompatible assumptions that sustain local certainties.
		The pattern is designed to relate the degree of certainty/uncertainty associated with apparently simple understandings of unity, polarization (binary yes-no), etc, situations to progressively more apparently complex sets of distinctions.
		At later levels, as the degree of certainty that it is possible to associate with any given distinction becomes greater, the challenge to comprehending the complementarity of the set at that level itself becomes greater.
	www.laetusinpraesens.org /docs/alien3.php (10518 words)

	OhioLINK ETD: Rucker, Derek
		Interestingly, past research has not spoken to the consequences of directing one’s thinking, in either a positive or negative fashion, when the attempt to find merit or fault is unsuccessful.
		The present research puts forth a metacognitive framework to predict and explain potential differences in how type of thinking may influence the underlying certainty with which individuals hold their attitudes.
		Furthermore, when individuals perceive themselves to be aware of both their potential positive and negative reactions to a message (versus just one side being salient) they express greater degrees of certainty in the attitude that was reached.
	www.ohiolink.edu /etd/view.cgi?osu1122042993 (291 words)

	Criticism of Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The late Professor Bertrand Russell responds to this claim by agreeing albeit that there are degrees of certainty:
		Certainly there are degrees of certainty, and one should be very careful to emphasize that fact, because otherwise one is landed in an utter skepticism, and complete skepticism would, of course, be totally barren and completely useless.
		Russell's support of science and degrees of certainty is supported by distinguished biologist Dr. Edward O Wilson.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Criticisms_of_Christianity (8938 words)

	Rachel Narehood Austin (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.
		I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we're here....
		I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell.
	abacus.bates.edu /~raustin (108 words)

	Computing Uncertainty in Interval Based Sets (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		The majority of the existing knowledge-based system use real numbers to describe the experts' degrees of certainty in different statements.
		In many cases, algorithms for reasoning with uncertainty are based on the quantitative estimations of the current uncertainty of knowledge.
		It will be shown that the numerical characteristics of uncertainty present in interval based set structures may be better captured in a discrete formulation where the real unit interval of degrees of belief is replaced by a linearly ordered finite set.
	www.informatics.indiana.edu /rocha/kluwer.html (322 words)

	John Locke -- Overview [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
		In the former case, the agreement or disagreement is immediately perceived; in the latter, it is perceived through the mediation of a third idea, but each step in the demonstration is itself an intuition, the agreement or disagreement between the two ideas compared being immediately perceived.
		The certainty which Locke attributes to sensitive knowledge is thus seen to be practical, rather than theoretical; and it is impossible to distinguish this degree of knowledge from the belief or opinion which results from a balance of probabilities rather than from certain perception.
		But instead of this, he contents himself with general observations on the degrees of assent, on reason (and syllogism), on faith and reason, on "enthusiasm," and on wrong assent, or error.
	www.iep.utm.edu /l/locke.htm (7767 words)

	NGC - NGC Summary
		"Degrees of Certainty" [Standards, Guideline, Options] and "Classification of Evidence" and the correlation between the two are defined at the end of the "Major Recommendations" field.
		Standards: Represent accepted principles of patient management that reflect a high degree of clinical certainty.
		Guidelines: Represent a particular strategy or range of management strategies that reflect a moderate degree of clinical certainty.
	www.guideline.gov /summary/summary.aspx?doc_id=3794 (2405 words)

	Through a Glass Darkly: Evidentialism, Presuppositionalism, and Certainty
		I do agree, though, that there is ontological "certainty" -- a reality beyond our social and linguistic constructions -- and that we can have varying degrees of "certainty" that our beliefs correspond to that reality.
		Though Bahnsen cites the translation of the key phrase as "know with certainty," the KJV translates it "know assuredly" and the NIV translates it "Let all Israel be assured of this." The relevant Greek word is "asphalos," meaning "securely" or "safely (so as to prevent escape)".
		The word translated "certainty" in Luke 1:3, by the way, is "asphaleia", which is related to the word "asphalos" in Acts 2.
	www.davidopderbeck.com /archives/2006/05/evidentialism_p.html (5155 words)

	News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		The Chairman said the October 8 earthquake is a major and devastating incident in which thousands of people have been killed and injured.
		He said through study of the past frequency of large earthquakes, probabilities can be tabulated with some degrees of certainty.
		He said preparedness is the most important factor in risk mitigation and a comprehensive action plan is required to minimize impact, degree of devastation and casualties in future.
	www.pakistanlink.com /Headlines/Jan06/18/13.htm (347 words)

	Equipment Corner: Give your driver a little TLC (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		We all address the tee shot with varying degrees of certainty, but we all want more.
		In all, there are six different combinations of ball flight that the r7 quad can provide with varying degrees of up to 10 yards.
		A special tool called the TLC Trajectory Wheel comes with the driver and is designed to show which TLC cartridges are required and how they should be configured to promote each of the trajectories that the r7 quad is designed to deliver.
	www.golf.com /gdc/news/article.asp?id=23505 (647 words)

	Suicide Faq
		Nitrogen gas (or other inert gas) Dosage: Several litres uncompressed is minimum Time: Minutes Available: Try plumber, or welding supplies company Certainty: Certain Notes: This is really a form of asphyxiation, (see later), but is particularly good since you don't experience the lack of oxygen (what people really experience is the EXCESS of carbon dioxide).
		Chlorine gas Dosage: not known Time: not known Available: tricky Certainty: Good Notes: This was used in the first world war in the trenches.
		Rotenone Dosage: very low, similar to cyanide Time: depends on dosage Available: extremely difficult Certainty: probable Notes: Rotenone is used by microbiologists to kill potentially dangerous bacteria cultures.
	fringe.davesource.com /Fringe/Information/Suicide_FAQ.html (10021 words)

	DNA Diagnostics
		DNA analysis needs careful prior planning for each disorder, given the number of mutations known and determinable, and possible other limitations including more than one disease locus, degrees of certainty, etc. Some families might benefit from combined analytic strategies.
		Given these complexities, physicians may need to first discuss the family details and diagnosis with us by telephone or e-mail, before obtaining samples.
		Please note that Acrobat Reader 5.0 is required, in order to use this version of the form, which can be completed on-line and then printed for a signature.
	www.bumc.bu.edu /Departments/PageMain.asp?Page=2209&DepartmentID=118 (166 words)

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