Suppressing Doubt Is Lying to Ourselves |
Doubt is an uncomfortable position, but certainty is a ridiculous one. — Voltaire
In polarized times, we tend to think in terms of negative labels applied to those who disagree with us. Like all characterizations, labels are heavily biased. Most often based on superficial analysis, or none at all, they're used more as slurs than attempts to understand or communicate. They cast decent people and bad actors alike as “enemies.”
Negative labels and characterizations give us an illusion of conviction. But the illusion is little more than suppression and denial of doubt. Genuine conviction is the resolution of known doubt, while remaining open to conflicting evidence. Doubt leads us to deeper thinking, grounded in probabilities rather than biased assumptions and generalizations.
These days, the adversarial tone of dialogue makes even people without opinions sound opinionated. It used to be that folks were afraid of sounding dumb. We seem to have liberated ourselves from that........