Passover and Easter are upon us and I'll be joining relatives to "celebrate" both days. These folks are mostly secular and enjoy the food, the getting together, and the sense that this is a tradition worth continuing. A few members undoubtedly feel the pull of the religious aspects but they aren't fundamentalists, they don't evangelize, and though the conversation may well venture to politics, it will be free of theology, mercifully! Around the world however there will be hundreds of millions of far less secular religious adherents who celebrate the days, full of certitude, absolutely free of doubt that they may be wrong. It's only in recent years, through reading Daniel Kahneman, and learning about the cognitive biases that we are all subject to, have I understood that I may well be wrong on a multitude of issues. We evolved to have these biases for a reason, and this knowledge has made me appreciate my fallibility, my understanding of some of my blindspots, all the while realizing I have blindspots to my blindspots. I'm humbled, and more full of doubt than I used to be. And I'm fine with that! I just have to work a hell of a lot harder to gain some semblance of what I think reality is, knowing I might be wrong. And this doesn't place me precariously sitting on the fence, unable to make a decision or act. I can't help but contrast my embrace of self-doubt, skepticism, and regard for science, with the devotion found in so many religious and political true believers. And at the heart of my doubt is the absolute necessity of free speech and free inquiry. We have to be able to express our views, even obnoxious or blasphemous ones, without being labeled, shouted down, subjected to ad hominem attacks or intimidated. Yes, certainly protest, and vigorously question others, but speech is really our most precious means of correcting errors and achieving some sense of reality. And we have to understand that we evolved to have so many cognitive biases that can impede this system of discovery. The religious and political dogmas so preciously clung to by the most rabid adherents can't be questioned. I hold science in such high regard because it provides a path to our understanding of the physical world. The role of free speech is foundational to its success. Scientists are praised when they successfully rebut the work of others. Science is held on a provisional basis because all too often, better understandings are developed, and sometimes, it's a lone, sometimes ridiculed scientist who overturns the apple cart! What a great system of inquiry! And yes, I acknowledge that results can be corrupted by those with financial interests, but still, the scientific method's use of experimentation and peer review, is the antidote to superstition and ignorance. Here's to realizing we may be wrong and understanding that there often is a way out of our ignorance! Peter T.
Embracing Free Speech/Inquiry, Science and My Self-Doubt
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Passover and Easter are upon us and I'll be joining relatives to "celebrate" both days. These folks are mostly secular and enjoy the food, the getting together, and the sense that this is a tradition worth continuing. A few members undoubtedly feel the pull of the religious aspects but they aren't fundamentalists, they don't evangelize, and though the conversation may well venture to politics, it will be free of theology, mercifully! Around the world however there will be hundreds of millions of far less secular religious adherents who celebrate the days, full of certitude, absolutely free of doubt that they may be wrong. It's only in recent years, through reading Daniel Kahneman, and learning about the cognitive biases that we are all subject to, have I understood that I may well be wrong on a multitude of issues. We evolved to have these biases for a reason, and this knowledge has made me appreciate my fallibility, my understanding of some of my blindspots, all the while realizing I have blindspots to my blindspots. I'm humbled, and more full of doubt than I used to be. And I'm fine with that! I just have to work a hell of a lot harder to gain some semblance of what I think reality is, knowing I might be wrong. And this doesn't place me precariously sitting on the fence, unable to make a decision or act. I can't help but contrast my embrace of self-doubt, skepticism, and regard for science, with the devotion found in so many religious and political true believers. And at the heart of my doubt is the absolute necessity of free speech and free inquiry. We have to be able to express our views, even obnoxious or blasphemous ones, without being labeled, shouted down, subjected to ad hominem attacks or intimidated. Yes, certainly protest, and vigorously question others, but speech is really our most precious means of correcting errors and achieving some sense of reality. And we have to understand that we evolved to have so many cognitive biases that can impede this system of discovery. The religious and political dogmas so preciously clung to by the most rabid adherents can't be questioned. I hold science in such high regard because it provides a path to our understanding of the physical world. The role of free speech is foundational to its success. Scientists are praised when they successfully rebut the work of others. Science is held on a provisional basis because all too often, better understandings are developed, and sometimes, it's a lone, sometimes ridiculed scientist who overturns the apple cart! What a great system of inquiry! And yes, I acknowledge that results can be corrupted by those with financial interests, but still, the scientific method's use of experimentation and peer review, is the antidote to superstition and ignorance. Here's to realizing we may be wrong and understanding that there often is a way out of our ignorance! Peter T.
