In the natural process of growth in the human mind, belief does not follow proof, but springs up apart from and independent of it; an immature intelligence believes first and proves (if indeed it ever seeks proof) afterward.
A belief system (BS) is a self-limiting function. If you believe something (if you wish for something to be true), you automatically preclude yourself from believing its opposite.
It’s more fulfilling to live a life where you give yourself points for proving yourself wrong. Where biases melt. And ego takes a seat in the back. You are not your ideas (you are what notices your ideas).
This is a method, not a philosophy. It is a process to find consistency in truth. We do this through loving the questions, not the ideas.
What kind of questions should we love?
The good ones. The right ones.
Good Questions:
Open-Ended and Insightful: Questions that lead to a deeper understanding of phenomena, such as “Why do we perceive a distorted image as a perfect shape, like a triangle or a cube?”
Simple yet Surprising: Questions about ordinary things that we take for granted invite us to become surprised, like “Why does an apple fall to the ground?”
Seeking Hidden Realities: Questions that look beyond the surface, aiming to uncover the underlying principles of phenomena, for example, “What are the innate structures of the mind that allow us to perceive shapes and objects?”
Reinforcing these points:
Questions that challenge common sense and invite us to look for deeper explanations, such as questioning why we perceive a certain shape despite the actual stimulus being different.
Questions that lead to the development of new theories or models, like Descartes’ rejection of the form theory of perception in favor of a mechanistic theory.
Questions that recognize the complexity of phenomena and seek to understand the underlying processes, for instance, why we perceive a consistent object despite receiving scattered and impoverished stimuli.
Bad Questions:
Assumptive and Closed: Questions that assume the answer within them and do not open up further inquiry, such as “Why do objects seek their natural place?” which assumes that objects have a ‘natural place’ they seek.
Irrelevant or Misleading: Questions that focus on the superficial aspects of phenomena without seeking deeper understanding, for example, “What is the natural place of an apple?” when discussing gravity.
Overly Complex or Confusing: Questions that are so convoluted they cannot be effectively answered or do not lead to clear insights, like “How does the form of an object float through the air and enter the brain?”
Reinforcing these points:
Questions that accept traditional explanations without scrutiny, such as the idea that forms are transferred to the brain without considering the mechanics of perception.
Questions that do not lead to further scientific inquiry or shut down the possibility of discovering new insights, like those that Hume considered leading to the conclusion that we have no concept of geometrical figures.
Questions that fail to recognize the richness of the stimulus-response relationship and the role of innate structures in perception.
Get Started:
Incorporating the Socratic method into your everyday life is the first step.
That is when you begin to use consistency as the test of truth— when you hold views provisionally.
Knowing how to ask the right questions in the right way is your ultimate goal.
That’s your sharpest tool for cutting up wicked problems into clear diagnoses.
As Alan Watts said:
Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.