My First Real Post (A Shout into the Void)

What to write about first in a blog about everything?  That's a hard question for me to confront, and realizing that I'm approaching this question entirely unprepared, I'll just fall back on an essay I wrote a couple of years ago for my Language class. It's a short and simple essay that argues in favor of a self-evident truth, so no ground will be shattered here; however, I nevertheless believe this essay makes for an appropriate first real post as it describes the foundation of my thinking: skepticism.

I believe in the power of doubt.  I feel that one of the most important aspects of achieving a functional and progressive human existence is to understand the limitations of our own knowledge as well as the knowledge of others, especially those who may benefit in any meaningful way from our agreement with them (i.e. politicians and religious leaders).  I write here of the power that any thinking being may find in not taking things at face value, the power in logical investigation of a subject, the power in a certain degree of skepticism.

I reject incontrovertible truths.  Almost nothing is known with absolute certainty; however, I mean not to suggest that it is inappropriate to strongly hold a belief, for that is simply a matter of prioritizing concepts, but to subscribe to any dogma is to reject any possibility of the ideas of that dogma being flawed in any way, and that is not only childish and ignorant, but also dangerous.  When people accept dogmas as universal truths, they close out reality and reason, making themselves susceptible to manipulation which can lead to the darkest of deeds.  There are a few obvious historical examples: the Nazis, the Manson family … but I feel I needn’t delve into such well-known topics here.  The point is, when people accept something or someone as an incontrovertible truth or truth-teller, they improperly prioritize, placing their belief above observed facts, reason, and even morality.

So, the point is that we mustn’t believe in things because they’re attractive ideas in that they simplify the world, or because they ease one’s discomfort with the scarier aspects of the world.  Rather, we should accept ideas as likely true based upon merits of observation and logic, but without accepting those ideas as above the very evidence we use to determine an idea’s accuracy.  No conclusion is worth more than the evidence which it is built upon.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.  – Voltaire