The Key Measure of Certainty

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In making decisions, we need a kind of certainty that science is not equipped to give us. Certainty can take the form of hope, despair, cynicism, optimism or pessimism. In all of these forms of certainty, share one thing in common: They require some form of faith. Faith is how we know that something is going to turn out a certain way, even when the evidence is incomplete.

The same facts can lead to different stories. You see this daily in your news feed — major events produce dozens of headlines, and each article has its own interpretation of the facts. This is how we make sense of the world: when we get information, we want to interpret it. But, with so many choices, is there a right interpretation?

In today’s episode, we ask this question. How can you interpret the facts of your life and make sense of your meaning and purpose? Our speaker is Dr. Troy Van Voorhis, a professor of Chemistry at MIT. He discusses how interpretations may not always be in conflict with each other, and how his Christian faith informs his approach to certainty.

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