Scientists value certainty; after all, we are in the business of knowing. But all scientists know that there is enormous uncertainty in much of what we do, that what may seem clear cut is often not, and that there remain open questions for every one that we close and move on from.
Yet, our hankering for certainty is such that our writing often sidesteps uncertainty. We have developed linguistic mannerisms that convey certainty when we introduce the topic under study, in the way we describe our methodology and its limitations, and again when we present our conclusions.
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