Beware of Those with Certitude

Insanity, Certainty, and the Mysteries of the Unknown (Vol. 4; Issue 30)

Caution, readers!

Here comes an atypical trigger warning—one without the usual, infantilizing message to be wary of watching something violent or hearing someone swearing:

If you suffer from any psychotic condition, like acute schizophrenia, then read no further.

Beginning with a warning about psychosis is no accident. This week’s newsletter explores the statement by obscure psychoanalyst-philosopher Jacques Lacan (1945) who writes:

The fundamental clinical index of the psychotic structure is certitude.

Always in need of translation for us regular folks, Lacan means that expressions of certitude, like uttering phrases like “absolutely true” or “completely correct,” are signs of psychosis. Doubt, questioning, humility are required in life. I’ve observed Lacan’s concept in the few persons with psychosis who have consulted me over the years. If they suffer a delusion—like the FBI is tapping their phones—they express it with complete conviction. They assert it without doubt.

We normative persons, who used to be called neurotics, always carry on with various degrees of doubt. Whether consulting psychoanalysts or talking with friends, they express their concerns with ambiguity. They might ask, “should I leave my husband?” They may wonder, “I’m worried this freckle might be melanoma.” A person finding love for the first time may question, “Is this what love feels like?” These questions and statements share a degree of uncertainty, of doubt, of skepticism.

I write with motivation stemming from annoyance while listening to one of Sam Harris’ podcasts. You can hear him struggle with his own certitude in his July 12, 2024 conversation with Christof Koch (2024). Koch, a German-American neurophysiologist and computational neuroscientist, toys with the Integrated Information Theory (IIT)* of consciousness. He strays into the realm of idealism, a philosophy alien, offensive, repugnant, and unacceptable to the all-too-certain Harris.

Harris’ (2012) book, Free Will, nauseates. He spews his hard-core determinist viewpoint throughout the small tome. Here’s an example he commonly uses: If the universe could be wound back ten years, and then it could be restarted, you’d find yourself in exactly the same position.

His point?

Your entire life is created by antecedents in the material world. Free will is an illusion. You make no choices whatsoever. Consciousness itself emerges from objects, like the brain. Harris adheres to a strict materialist viewpoint despite this truth: The issue of free will versus determinism—of interest to humanity for the 5,000 years civilization has existed—remains unsolved. But what a relief to take a firm position, to find solid ground.