“There are no doubts so small that they cannot be magnified by discussion.”Georg Christoph Lichtenberg · Caietele de însemnări · 1799 · Caietul K, însemnarea 18
Certainty isn't won by talking: every added argument invites a counterargument, and doubt grows instead of shrinking.
Lichtenberg notices a paradox of reason: any thesis argued in public attracts counterarguments, and each one leaves a crack. The mechanism is that the mind is better at generating than at eliminating, so debate adds possibilities instead of removing them. Consider someone sure about a purchase who reads reviews all evening and ends up paralyzed. That does not mean silence fixes everything, only that certainty is not won by talking.
Why it matters Useful in the age of online debate: once a decision is made, more opinions will not make it clearer.