Dont believe in anything....
What are you crazy? Well we all know the answer there...we are all a little crazy...
So I do like to approach things somewhat differently where I feel I am just presented with a notion which has been presented so often that one never bothers to question it...the notion just becomes a given, accepted and not really thought about prior to acceptance in our " life rules" we each seem to take on board... AND simply followed and often with out even knowing who put the notion forward in the first place ...and there fore we can never ask..what do they know?
My favorite notion to reject is..."You have to believe in something!"
I ask why?
Is it a law in the Criminal Code? Who says so? Why do you have to?
Now everyone are jumping to respond in support of the notion...but again why? Why would you say such a thing?
I say you do not have to or need to believe in anything.
What if you choose not to believe in anything at all ...can you still get by?
I really would love your answers on just this alone.
I am not sure where I first read about the approach I now set out but I must say I follow it and I think it has helped me in life perhaps more than most things I present and hold as my little rules for living...most of us have some form or lists of standard dos and do nots...dont walk backwards down stairs is a throw away but I will say..."never trust someone once they have lied just once" is a better example...I never give a liar a second chance...a life rule for me and one that will never let you down I feel...
So what Is my approach ..even if you did not ask I feel bound to share this absolute gem with you...
Just don't believe anything but hold "levels of confidence"...and you can have varying
levels from very very high or not much but I will keep my eye on this situation for sure...type of thing.
So is the Sun the center of the Solar System?..I will not answer " I believe it is the center off the Solar System"..and my answer will be "I hold a high level of confidence that the Sun is indeed the center of our solar system"...
so isnt that the same as saying that I believe the Sun is the center of the Solar System ?
Definetly it is not the same...Well it is subtle in this example but there is a big difference....Now when some one now says well technically it is not the exact center as it is somewhat off set...hmmmm belief challenge,,,not for me because I hold a high level of confidence as opposed to a firm belief so I am prepared to listen to the rest of that claim...whereas if I am burdened with the belief that the Sun is the Center of the Solar System I will not be as receptive...even though accepted it is just nit picking if you believe...again here it seems insignificant but the two responces are different..a belief closes the mind the moment it is formed and any challenge to that belief we not only oppose immediately but we tend to take it very personally if someone presents a conflicting belief.
This approach really works for me...The Big BangTheory is a fact for example...people say that and express it as a belief...well it is not a fact and I think if one thinks deeply one can understand that although The Big Bang Theory is our current best scientific model in Cosmology that explains many observations there is no reason why with new data it may and is very likely to some how change..it has in the past for example....maybe the age currently given to the Universe will change...maybe we can determine what came before the hot dense state...and moreover we can not even speculate upon what we do not yet know....a high level of confidence leaves opportunity to learn more.
I hope you understand the additional room to think that the " holding levels of confidence " provides... and for me it allows me to question things that up to this change in approach one simply could not do...for example..I would say " I believe the Big Bang Theory" whereas now I say " It is our best scientific model of cosmology that we have and my level of confidence is very high..." now I hope you can see the room to move I now have...so somehow the door is now always open for an alternative...and the best thing of all is if there are two competitors they rank against each other by " levels of confidence"....and certainly gives me a better approach to determining the merits of lesser propositions..you no longer just believe one requiring the complete abandonment of the other...
You no longer need to commit to saying " I believe everything he said" for example...you can hold a high level of confidence and still leave your mind open rather that bolting it completly shut with " I believe"..full stop.
What I found exciting was going through so many things that I thought I believed...(being honest with one self is a prerequisite to introducing this approach in your life) was that not much did I fully believe ..somethings turned out to be rather low in my level of confidence and my belief was not mine at all but simply me going along with the mob as it were...and with so many things I found myself admitting my levels of confidence fell far short of justifying what previously I would have called a belief...but holding a belief left my mind closed whereas it is now open and not just going along with the mob.
So in the interests of discussion does any one follow this approach as I am sure being such a sensible approach it would be rather widely accepted and followed...perhaps all you science folk are saying " Of course you can not think any other way than to only entertain levels of co fidence"....ANY thoughts on this one?
Alex
