Doubt

Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, and is uncertain about them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, distrust or lack of conviction on certain facts, actions, motives, or decisions. Doubt can result in delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concern for mistakes or missed opportunities.

legal principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty

thumb|Situations often arise wherein a decision must be made when the results of each possible choice are uncertain.

risk management strategy emphasizing caution in scientific proceedings

thumb|right|upright=1.35 |Having called conclusions about human-caused climate change "alarmist", contrary to the [[scientific consensus on climate change, Republican Senator Jim Inhofe displayed a snowball—in winter—as evidence the globe was not warming, in a year that was found to be Earth's warmest to date. The director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies distinguished local weather in a single location in a single week from global climate change.]] Within the sociology of knowledge, agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of deliberate, culturally cultivated ignorance or do

the obligation on a party in a dispute to provide sufficient warrant for their position

questioning the possibility of certainty, or of judgement, due to inadequate evidence

in law, the obligation on a party in a trial to produce evidence

uncertainty experienced in military operations

tactic used to influence opinion by disseminating negative, dubious, or false information

thumb|349x349px|Charles Sanders Peirce around 1900. Peirce is said to have initiated fallibilism. Originally, fallibilism (from Medieval Latin: fallibilis, "liable to error") is the philosophical principle that propositions can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified, or that neither knowledge nor belief is certain. The term was coined in the late nineteenth century by the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, as a response to foundationalism. Theorists, following Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper, may also refer to fallibilism as the notion that k

Defeatism is the acceptance of defeat without struggle, often with negative connotations. It can be linked to pessimism in psychology, and may sometimes be used synonymously with fatalism or determinism.

[when] in doubt, for the accused

form of methodological skepticism associated with the writings and methodology of René Descartes

thumb|A common factoid is the incorrect claim that the Great Wall of China is visible from space with the naked eye. A factoid was originally defined to mean a false statement presented as a fact. In colloquial speech, it is often used to mean a true but brief or trivial item of news or information (which can be less ambiguously described as a "factlet").

thumb|Bre people|Brè women showing distrust of the photographer Distrust is a formal way of not trusting any one party too much in a situation of grave risk or deep doubt. It is commonly expressed in civics as a division or balance of powers, or in politics as means of validating treaty terms. Systems based on distrust simply divide the responsibility so that checks and balances can operate. The phrase "trust, but verify" refers specifically to distrust.

episode from Gospel of John, in which the Apostle Thomas refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles

finger gesture indicating quotation marks

2010 book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

high legal standard of proof, usually required for criminal conviction

quotation marks used to indicate non-standard usage

Infallibility refers to unerring judgment, being absolutely correct in all matters and having an immunity from being wrong in even the smallest matter. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in religion, epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fields is the subject of continued debate.

low standard of proof which governs minor detentions and searches under United States law