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[ THE DANGERS OF BEING CERTAIN ] Royce Carlson First of all, we already
come into the world with a limited capacity to perceive what is going on
around us. Our eyes only take in a small part of the spectrum of light. Our
ears hear a limited range of sound and our other senses are limited as well.
Add to this the limitation of language and culture. As we grow, we begin to
think in words. Our spoken language limits what can be thought about and how
it can be thought about. There’s an old adage about how Eskimos have a
hundred different words for snow. They can think about snow in much greater
differentiation because they have more words for it. If there are no words to
describe something, we can’t think about it very easily. In addition, as we
assimilate the culture we are raised in, we begin to structure our perception
of the world in accordance with the norms of our particular culture to the
exclusion of other ways of thinking. If you are sick, for example, it is
totally normal to think about seeing a doctor. This is not true from other
cultural perspectives. In some cultures it would be totally normal to seek
out a shaman to exorcise the spirits that are making you sick. Given that we are experiencing
the world through the filters of limited sensory input, the limited potential
of our native language, and the limited perspective of our native culture, it
is amazing that we believe we can think about the world objectively let alone
be sure of anything. But this is what we want – to be certain. Certainty helps us become
passionate. It helps us get wound up to right injustices or try to convert
people to our beliefs. The problem is, we have incomplete information, maybe
even wrong information. And, to top it all off, we get irate if our tenuous
belief systems are challenged. When we adopt belief systems,
they become structures through which we experience the world. Events and
experiences that fit the belief system are used to reinforce it and
experiences that contradict or are outside of the belief system are either
ignored or denied. This makes the belief system self-reinforcing to the
detriment of knowledge and reality. If, for some reason, a person is
bombarded with information and experiences that contradict their beliefs,
this usually creates a crisis. The attachment to beliefs can be so strong
that when a person understands that their beliefs are limited or wrong, they
can have nervous breakdowns or even commit suicide. We cannot help but try to make
sense of our experiences. Our brains are built to create world views that
work for us. This is what humans do. If our desire to know the truth and
expand our range of experience is strong enough, we must come up with
something. How can we create a belief system that is flexible and corresponds
with the greatest diversity of phenomena? My answer is to embrace
uncertainty. The world is a vast mystery, full of amazing complexity and
wondrous phenomena. Why not celebrate it? Adopt a belief system that works
for you but don’t hold on too tightly. Accept that you may be wrong. Make
your beliefs preferences rather than necessities. Whenever you experience
something that does not fit your world view, drop your world view, not the
experience. It is only in this way can you truly open yourself to more of
what is really going on out there instead of what you think is going on.
Avoid the dangers of being certain by becoming comfortable with uncertainty,
complexity, and the apparent chaos in which we swim. Courtesy
of zenzibar.com |
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