Stratagems of the Right

How much of our knowledge of the material world is derived from the authority of others as opposed to of our own investigation? Perfect certainty of truth in the material world is impossible; we simply approximate the greater odds that the knowledge we hold is correct versus not and believe accordingly. As the old adage goes, we see through a glass darkly. But we see enough. This is why criminal justice in many nations is served upon knowledge that guilt is beyond a reasonable doubt as opposed to by perfect certainty. There's always room for doubt, because knowledge of events in the material world can never be perfectly certain. To require perfect certainty before acting would paralyze all our activity. Thus, we never require it to take action. Even our most certain knowledge, like what we had for dinner last night, can't be held in perfect confidence. Our memories can fail us. While mathematics may be known with absolute certainty, as equations have objectively correct ans