OK, so in the previous two articles of this series, we’ve discussed Stoicism and Epicureanism respectively. And naturally, third in the list would be Skepticism, there’s nothing to be skeptical about it. Although the Hellenistic (Greek, after Alexander) schools of thought did happen to begin with Cynicism, I didn’t mention it, because I don’t find it particularly practical in today's standards. But it did have a role to play, definitely. In fact, Cynicism influenced Zeno to a great extent.
However, back to the topic, Skepticism is the talk of the day. There was a sort of fierce rivalry between the various schools of thought at that time, and although Stoicism apparently took the lead, Epicureanism and Skepticism were not far less behind.
So, first of all, what is Skepticism? Well, the name pretty much says it all. Skepticism is primarily a school of thought revolving around the singular idea that our senses are defective, and as such, their inputs can’t be relied on fully. So, we have to be skeptical about everything. The leading person in the school of Skepticism was its founder, and also its living example and embodiment, the famous Pyrrho.
A few things about Pyrrho – the impractical side of skepticism
Ok, so before we begin exploring the peace Skepticism can bring about in your life, when applied properly, let us learn a bit about the impractical and utterly ridiculous side of skepticism, or more properly, an extreme version of this set of ideas. Pyrrho was, like Epicurus and Zeno, a great thinker back then. But he attracted more attention because of his often ridiculous acts, such as walking straight into a lion’s den (figuratively, at least), not bothering to pause and have a look when crossing the road, walking right off a cliff and so on. But far from being the activities of a madman, the Pyrrhonic version of skepticism was the natural result coming out of the core and foundation of skepticism - Our senses can’t be relied on, so there’s no way of knowing if you’re sitting on a chair at present.
Pyrrho believed that there’s simply no way of confirming the things that we take for granted. For example, while we’re crossing a road, we may hear the horns of cars coming towards us from both sides, hear people screaming “Hey, look out!”, and even feel tremendous pain when a motorbike hits us, but how can we confirm them?
Let me explain a bit. Our senses are not perfect, that’s for sure. When you’re really thirsty and walking on a hot desert with no water-source nearby, you’ll gradually begin to hallucinate, and see a large oasis in front of you, which is actually a mirage. So, how can the eyes be trusted? We hallucinate at other times as well. People often see ghostly apparitions, which are actually nothing other than tricks of light and shadows. Likewise, we may apparently hear our name being called in the dead of night, and yet there happens to be no one calling us then. Numerous other examples can be placed, but I guess we all get the meaning of what Pyrrho tried to imply.
However, extreme skepticism can be disruptive, and even destructive. You may argue, the senses may not be 100% perfect, but they’re 90% perfect at the very least! Or else, how can we actually live in the world? A very logical conclusion, and this demonstrates the impractical side of of extreme skepticism. Our senses may not be always accurate in their jobs, but they’re more or less accurate more than 99% of the times. As such, it would be utter folly to utterly discard them.
The important thing at hand, is to focus on the practical and useful side of skepticism.
Practical skepticism: how being a skeptic can help you focus
Imagine you’re going to catch the next train to a movie theatre, and the movie is going to start in 30 minutes. The next train will take you to the theatre 5 minutes before the movie begins. But unfortunately, you don’t get to buy your ticket in time, and the train leaves, thanks to a crammed crowd at the station. Grudgingly, you buy your ticket and board the next train. Now you’re definitely going to miss the first 5 minutes of the movie. But then, you suddenly hear that the previous train has got stuck inside a tunnel, and people are being evacuated by security personnel. They lose 2 hours, get really scared and congested, are forced to undergo some utterly ridiculous shock therapy, and are almost certainly bugged by field-reporters once they manage to get out of the mess.
So, was your missing the previous train a bad event? Hardly so, unless you fancy getting stuck in dark tunnels with screaming children, scared passengers and absolutely no hope of a swift recovery.
Skepticism tells us NEVER to judge a situation quickly. Yes, an event may appear really bad to you, it may even cause you to lose hope and feel chocked, but maybe it’s not necessarily bad in the long run! You definitely have heard the story of Emperor Akbar, who was once said to have cut his finger while hunting. Birbal, his favourite courtier, remarked “Maybe it’s not that bad, Your Majesty”, but the emperor simply got irritated, thinking that Birbal doesn’t care about him. But later that day, Akbar was caught by some robbers, who wanted to sacrifice him in a ritual. Then, one of the robbers saw that Akbar’s finger was cut, and they allconcluded that Akbar was unfit for the honour of being the sacrifice. Well, it’s needless to say that the emperor was really delighted and relieved at having escaped death thus. He admitted to Birbal that it was wrong to swiftly arrive at the conclusion that his finger getting cut was something bad, after all.
But one question, that you may ask yourself, is how can we ever know whether something will turn up to be good or bad for us in the long run? Even more importantly, what’s the guarantee that an accident is really a blessing in disguise? The answer is – we simply don’t have any way to know that. But that alone is the best reason not to care about the outcomes of things, because our brains aren’t developed enough to know the future, if it’s knowable at all.
What skepticism tells us, in a practical and concise sense, is that we should never be much emotional about the outcomes of actions that surround us, because such emotions are most likely based on pre-mature conclusions. It is said that Pyrrho was once travelling on a ship, and there was a severe storm going on at that time. The sailors, other passengers and even the captain were terrified. But Pyrrho remained calm. When asked why he could stay thus calm in the face of the disaster, Pyrrho replied “How can I be sure that there’s actually a storm out there? And even if there is, how can I be sure that it’s necessarily a disaster and not a latent blessing for me?”. Others are relieved, and shared his fearlessness. Because like fear, courage too can be contagious, at times.
It is to be noted that, there’s a strong possibility that Pyrrho had visited India when he was young. His extreme version of skepticism might have been influenced by the Indian belief system of Mayabad, that we all are pretty much familiar with. Brahman alone is the truth, everything else is illusion, that is what a large section of Indian ascetics believed back then (not that I get to agree with it, though, but that’s a separate topic).
Other than this calming effect of skepticism, this practical philosophy has a variety of other uses. In science, especially, we see how a skeptical attitude can be a blessing. The primary attribute of anything claiming to be scientific should be that it is open to criticism and skepticism. When Copernicus said that the earth revolves around the sun, and not vice versa, his view was open to criticism. Galileo, Kepler and Newton, they had all been skeptical about the issue at first. After all, our daily experience seems to tell otherwise – apparently the sun is much smaller the earth, it rises in the east and sets in the west. But gradually, with the practical application of mathematics, logic and reason, we saw that what often appears to be the reality, is only an approximation of some deeper and grander scheme of things.
Skepticism is one of the greatest weapons that we can use to battle mindless and silly superstitions. In fact, we all are into skepticism, whether we know it or not, but some people manage to suppress it with enough superstition, blind faith and dogmas. For example, let us talk about the caste system of India. Apparently, the Brahmins are superior to everyone else. Mind you, I am myself a Brahmin, and that too of the highest possible order, if the caste system is to be believed (Chatterjee is the anglicized form of Chatto-Upadhaya, who form the highest tier of Brahminism in Bengal, also known as the Kulin Varna). But how can we ever be sure of that? The blood that flows through our veins is similar in chemical composition to the blood of a Shudra. And about Brahmins being highly knowledgeable, absolutely clean in mind and body, and capable of channeling spiritual powers, let me assure you that they are nothing but myths. There are intelligent and idiot folks in every community, and Brahmins are no exception. When subjected to Skepticism, the caste system totally and utterly fails in most of its claims.
Another example – Abrahamic religions. One theme that has become a common feature of the extreme versions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, is the lack of tolerance and regard for other faiths. One has only to skim through a few pages of the history of Crusades to see how deluded these extremists are.
“My God alone is true, and submit to my religion or else I’ll smash you!” - this attitude has been the reason for much of the chaos we see around, nowadays. How can we be really certain that a God exists? There seems to be no conclusive evidence, whatsoever. And irrespective of whether he exists or not, why should we fight amongst ourselves? More importantly, even if there’s a God, how can we be certain that our Messiah/Prophet/Guru alone holds the truth? Maybe we’re all right, maybe we’re all wrong. Till we have the complete picture beyond doubt, it’s utterly ridiculous and foolish to wage wars in the name of religion.
We should all be a little more skeptical about things that promise great rewards if we follow a course of action. This applies to real-life situations. Before buying a smartphone, it’s wise to research about it online, compare the reviews and opinions of a few people who supposedly own the device. Likewise, when an employee from a mobile company calls you all of a sudden, and tell you about the offer that can save your life, be sure to look at it skeptically.
Skepticism and self-control
We often encounter situations in which A tells us that B laughs at us behind our backs, and C is a witness who’s more than glad to testify. In fact, a very good friend of my father once turned his back on him when a tricky colleague of my father told him a supposedly nonsense story about what my father says about him. He stopped talking with my father, and it was a long time before the ice melted between them. Then, my father and his friend have discussed the matter openly, and together they arrived at the most likely conclusion, the aforementioned colleague is the source of all trouble. This is how rewarding skepticism can be, if applied wisely.
But we should also be skeptical about our own minds! Why so? Because the mind too is an imperfect tool. It has a purpose, but with time it too can encounter problems. As you know, the error-level in any isolated mechanism increases with time, to paraphrase the second law of thermodynamics. And so, it’s important to freshen up our own minds using the light of skepticism.
We may suddenly feel very vengeful towards a friend who’s supposedly betrayed our trust somehow. But then again, it is important to take your time, and consider all possibilities before arriving at a conclusion. Immediately barking “Go hang yourself! I don’t wanna see you again!!!” is easy, but it may not always be the correct path. As such, take all the time you need, because you’ve all the time in the world.
With time, we too may develop superstitions, and keep lucky charms, those ridiculous energy-bracelets advertised on various channels, but we should always subject such practices to the light of reason.
A Summary of Practical Skepticism: the five Mantras of a Skeptic
1. Nothing is certain, other than our own existence as a thinking being (Cogito, Ergo Sum), perhaps. What often appears to be clear as daylight, may be just an illusion. And what seems more unlikely, may be the actual reality.
2. Instead of quickly judging things as good or bad, it is important to neutrally observe the situation from an objective standpoint, by keeping ourselves out of the equation. It may be time-consuming, but it’s rewarding in the long run. Don’t rush to decisions, take your time.
3. Anything and everything that claims to be scientific should be tolerant towards constructive criticism and skepticism. Anything that shrouds itself with mysteries, keeps itself opaque or focuses on faith or belief rather than reason, is most probably a hoax.
4. There’s no way we can know the future. As such, what appears to be a doomsday for us, may turn out to be the exact opposite someday. Therefore, it is important to stick to our routines objectively, and stop our minds from haunting us with depression, hopelessness and those ”WHY ME?!” questions.
5. Although absolute certainty about anything is possibly illogical, logic and reason are our best tools to arrive at more plausible conclusions, rather than emotions or belief systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment