The issuing of a certificate... in the form of a documentary label statement attached to an individual or an entity... is as much an indication of the self-interest of the issuing authority as a benefit to the recipient. In all cases, the certification authority promotes the merits of their process in order to establish their relevance and continuity. An educational authority issues certificates which must be generally accepted as being reliable indicators or else face the prospect of oblivion. A trustworthy certificate of airworthiness promotes the existence of the issuing authority as well as supposedly inspiring confidence in any prospective aviators. If an agricultural authority... that certifies the viability of seeds... loses its recognition because germination is poor, it will eventually be replaced by one that can be relied upon. The certificates it issues will justify its existence. Even the bureaucratic state authorities which issue birth and death certificates do so for their own benefit rather than those of the individuals. The certificates are only useful to the individual in order to conform to the range of control regulations imposed by the state.

The certification process, official or otherwise, is a continuous and relentless promotional strategy. Factual status is readily conferred on statements like... the kite flight met all design specifications... by self-interested kite manufacturing companies. A kite with a flight certificate may be reassuring enough to result in a sale, but there is no guarantee that the wind will blow. This is why, when the kite-assertion... god created man... is continually re-certified by the franchise agents, they fly it in the virtual space above their ecclesiastic structures, where it is supported by the thermal updraughts of joyous praise. The certification by numerous physical science academies of the assertion that... the speed of light is constant... has induced it to be entertained in many minds as an encapsulated certainty. It is not clear whether the universe has been informed yet, and is prepared to recognise its validity.

The enduring problem with certificates is their credibility. If the issuing authority no longer exists, no-one is filled with much confidence. If the issuing and expiry dates are illegible or too small to read, suspicions are inevitably aroused. If presenting it provokes laughter, then one should re-consider the plans to have it framed. The unpalatable reality is that a substantial proportion of certificates are not worth the time and effort involved in acquiring them. As well as the on-going concerns of authenticity and relevance, the forging of certificates is a widely favoured form of deception. Falsifying the information on any of the certificates that society is inclined to recognise... birth, death, marriage, health, driving, education, passport, shares, etc... is a standard means of 'manipulating the system'. Certification, as an operational means of controlling a social system, demands assiduous dedication to strategies that can neutralize the ingenuity of humans.