Why we should be in constant search of doubt
Growth is an endlessly iterative process. When we learn something new, we don’t go from “wrong” to “right.” Rather, we go from wrong to slightly less wrong. And when we learn something additional, we go from slightly less wrong to slightly less wrong than that, and then to even less wrong than that, and so on. We are always in the process of approaching truth and perfection without actually ever reaching truth or perfection.
We shouldn’t seek to find the ultimate “right” answer for ourselves, but rather, we should seek to chip away at the ways that we’re wrong today so that we can be a little less wrong tomorrow I mean Rome wasn’t built in a day right?
When viewed from this perspective, personal growth can actually be quite scientific (stay with me here it won’t sound boring I promise). Our values are our hypotheses: this behaviour is good and important, that other behavior is not. Our actions are the experiments, the resulting emotions and thought patterns are our data (thank you 4yrs of statistical analysis 😂)
There is no correct dogma or perfect ideology. There is only what your experience has shown you to be right for you and even then, that experience is probably somewhat wrong too.
And because you and I and everybody else all have differing needs and personal histories and life circumstances, we will all inevitably come to differing “correct answers about what our lives mean and how they should be lived. My correct answer involves traveling for years on end, living in obscure places, and laughing at my own farts. Or at least that was the correct answer up until recently, now I laugh at my fiancés farts too 😉
That answer will change and evolve however, because I change and evolve and as I grow older and more experienced, I chip away at how wrong I am, becoming less and less wrong every day.
Many people become so obsessed with being “right” about their life that they never end up actually living it.
A certain woman is single and lonely and wants a partner, but she never gets out of the house and does anything about it, instead she’s putting up Instagram stories with the caption “live, laugh, love” yes you know the stories I’m referring too. A certain man works his ass off and believes he deserves a promotion, but he never explicitly says that to his boss, he instead expects his boss to perform some sort of Harry Potter spell and read his damn mind.
They’re told that they’re afraid of failure, of rejection, someone saying no, but that’s not it. Sure, rejection hurts. Failure fucking sucks. But there are particular certainties that we hold on to, certainties that we’re afraid to question or let go of, values that have given our lives meaning over the years. That woman doesn’t get out there and date because she would be forced to confront her beliefs about her own desirability. That man doesn’t ask for the promotion because he would have to confront his beliefs about what his skills are actually worth.
It’s easier to sit in a painful certainty that nobody would find you attractive, that nobody appreciates your talents, than to actu ally test those beliefs and find out for sure.
Beliefs of this sort, that I’m not attractive enough, so why bother or that my boss is an asshole, so why bother are designed to give us moderate comfort now by mortgaging greater happiness and success later on.
They’re terrible long-term strategies, yet we cling to them because we assume we’re right, because we assume we already know what’s supposed to happen. In other words, we assume we know how the story ends.
Certainty is the enemy of growth. Nothing is for certain until it has already happened and even then, it’s still debatable.
That’s why accepting the inevitable imperfections of our values is necessary for any growth to take place.
Instead of striving for certainty, we should be in constant search of doubt, doubt about our own beliefs. doubt about our own feelings, doubt about what the future may hold for us unless we get out there and create it for ourselves. Instead of looking to be right all the time, we should be looking for how we’re wrong all the time. Because we are.
Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth. It means not cutting your arm open to cure a cold or splashing dog piss on your face to look young again. It means not thinking “mediocre” is a vegetable, and not being afraid to care about things.
Because here’s something that’s weird but true, we don’t actually know what a positive or negative experience is. Some of the most difficult and stressful moments of our lives also end up being the most formative and motivating.
Some of the best and most gratifying experiences of our lives are also the most distracting and demotivating. Don’t trust your conception of positive/negative experiences. All that we know for certain is what hurts in the moment and what doesn’t. And that’s not worth much.
So this weekend don’t try to be “right” embrace doubt and drink your fucking coffee.. or beer seen as it is the weekend!
See you on Monday! 🫡
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