Decisions are made under irreducible uncertainty that evidence alone cannot resolve
Evidence
But as he considers all of these arguments, Henri becomes aware of several things: one is that “concrete evidence” will never be a suffi cient basis on which to arrive at a wise judgment. We never know enough to be sure that our decisions will have the desired outcome. Will the readership grow or shrink if he gives the paper to the SRL? Will the SRL grow or not as a result? On so many political matters, Henri refl ects, you have to act without knowing. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 490
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Sartre’s existentialist emphasis on choice under uncertainty and the inescapability of commitment despite absent grounds, resonating with the reader’s later use of ‘totalizer’. — connects to: Belief systems respond to contrary evidence by discounting the evidence; Risk and uncertainty are fundamentally different decision environments — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 388; Theory breaks deceptive appearances but cannot justify choices — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 985 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Risk and uncertainty are fundamentally different decision environments
#expands(0.85) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 388 - Speculation addresses incalculable uncertainty, not merely probabilistic risk.
#expands(0.85) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 54 - Belief systems respond to contrary evidence by discounting the evidence
#exemplifies(0.80) - Convergent correlational evidence should justify action absent perfect scientific certainty
#qualifies(0.80) — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 50 - Theory breaks deceptive appearances but cannot justify choices
#qualifies(0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 985 - Decision-makers implicitly assume unseen factors are unimportant
#expands(0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2580