While conventional wisdom says “Banish doubt!”, in actuality doubt is a great asset. Sometimes it is the greatest asset. Why is this so?
The human mind
It takes great courage to acknowledge doubt. It takes great courage to accept doubt.
Most faith-based belief systems are hostile towards doubt, consider it a malevolent activity. It seems that the unsaid message is that “if only you were good enough” you would have no doubt. But doubt is one of the many creations of being human. Once a person has some level perception of the world, doubt is automatic.
Doubt is what allows us to see.
In the conventional world, we are taught that doubt is a hindrance. Because it is a hindrance–to whatever influence is attempting to control us. Hence, the many efforts to convince us to attempt to banish doubt.
Our perceptions normally are “conditioned” by all the many factors that impinge upon us: our culture, our religion, our education, our familial experiences, our birth order, our neighborhood of origin, the political and financial system we grew up in, what and where we were taught, the media we were exposed to, and so. These many belief-systems influence and color our world, obscure our vision, narrow our understandings, and constrict our ideas. And these influences are continually attempting to reinforce their hold over us.
The Purpose of Doubt
Doubt leads to inquiry. This is why it is opposed by those who wish to mold our lives, and restrict our thinking.
Doubt gives us the opportunity to break through all of the influences that impede our vision. Doubt allows us to know more of the world as it is, to think without the imposed ideas of those external influences. Doubt can and is a way of breaking free.
The Fear of Doubt
One of the reasons given by the forces wishing to control our perceptions is that doubt can emotionally or psychologically paralyze our actions in the world. This possibility is a true one. It is possible for doubt to overwhelm the self and hinder our humanity. This form of doubt is self-doubt. And it happens that the same forces that attempt to regulate our awareness are the ones that sow self-doubt upon us. They nurture our self-doubt and then denigrate us for having it. Self-doubt, where one questions one’s own reality in the face of external judgment, can indeed be debilitating.
However, self-doubt need only be just a brief stepping stone to greater awareness. When one turns the spotlight of doubt from the self to the outer world, then the clarity of perception provides us the true vision of ourselves and the world around us.
As much as I am not my assumptions, I am not my doubt. I may have assumptions, I may have doubt. But I am neither. I just stand and see it, but not own it, and it certainly does not own me.
Courage Needed
As mentioned above, it does take courage to harness doubt. It takes great courage to harness doubt without letting it own us. When it seems that all the world is screaming “No! No! No!” at one, but the individual says “Yes, I Will Do It,” then the imputed loneliness can be immense. However, quickly several conclusions becomes clear. A person is never true to oneself and the world when we join a belief-system movement; one abdicates one’s individuality, freedom, and power when bonding with those movements. One’s freedom to see clearly, understand, and act is attenuated when we participate in those movements. Hence, to stand as an individual great courage is needed.
How to use doubt will be discussed in a future post.
What is your approach to courage and doubt? Let me know here.
Illustrated is the first violin made in America, built by John AntesĀ in 1759. This violin is now housed in the Museum of the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
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