Doubt is Not Disbelief

To believe something means to accept a claim as true. To disbelieve something means to reject a claim as false. But to doubt means to question whether a claim is true or false.

Belief is a decision to accept a claim. Disbelief is a decision to reject a claim as false. But doubt means to suspend judgement about the claim until further evidence clarifies the matter

Similar But Not the Same

Doubt and disbelief can look similar. They both refuse to accept the claim. But they are not the same. Doubt is indecision, disbelief is a decision. Douby is inaction, disbelief is action. It rejects the claim as false and then acts as if the claim is false. Doubt does not act on the truth or falseness of the claim

Know Them by Their Fruit

This is why Jesus told us to judge people by their fruit. By fruit he is talking about their daily conduct, both in words and deeds. These will indicate what a person really believes.

We can also use the same method to understand our own beliefs. No one has deceived us so often as ourselves. Examine yourself, what do your words and actions truly say about what you really believe.

Minimalism as a Spiritual Practice

“There’s happiness in having less.” – Fumio Sasaki

We live in a consumer society. We are told to buy, buy, buy. The more you have, the happier you will be. You don’t want to be a “have not.”

But it is a lie. More does not lead to happiness, but to unhappiness.

I define minimalism as a spiritual practice of reducing your possessions to a minimum. It is also called voluntary simplicity, and it goes back way before the Japanese minimalism wave started in 2009.

Minimalism is more than a practice, it is a mindset and way of life.

Rabbi Hyman Schachtel once said, “Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.”

Like so many things in life, it comes back to the mind. Our mind is our greatest asset and our greatest source of unhappiness. It all depends on how you use it.

Don’t Become a Minimalist

This may seem strange to people who have followed my blog. I am a big fan of minimalism, so why would I advise people not to become minimalists?

The answer is simple. Minimalism is a great tool, but a poor identity. A minimalist is simply a person with few things. Not much to get excited about, not much substance.

Flourishing should be the goal, not minimalism. Minimalism is a tool to help eliminate the obstacles to flourishing, but minimalism is not the goal. Confusing the tool with the destination is not wise.

Furthermore, becoming identified with a tool will result in being measured by the tool. For example, some people will claim because I have over 30 books that I am not a minimalist. But since I never claimed to be a minimalist, the criticism is hollow.

My goal is not to have fewer things, my goal is to make sure things support my personal flourishing rather than hinder it.

We own things, but we need to make sure that things don’t own us. Nonattachment is the key, and that has more to do with what’s inside the mind than the number of things on our kitchen counter.

But don’t confuse what I am saying. I think minimalism is a very important tool in breaking free from the chains of consumerism. Yes, we should practice minimalism, but no we should not call ourselves minimalists.

Follow Socrates’ Example

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens, Greece from 470 BCE to 399 BCE. Although not the first philosopher, he is credited as being the founder of Western philosophy and the first moral philosopher.

Since he is the ideal of what a philosopher is, I thought it would be interesting if we followed Socrates’ example today. What would happen if we lived like Socrates?

Well, firstly, we would not get a degree in philosophy. Socrates did not go to a University, rather he learned his father’s trade and became a stone worker. He was tutored in reading and writing. He served in the military and served in three campaigns. And after his father passed, he inherited part of his father’s estate.

With the idle time, he started hanging out with some friends and started asking citizens of Athens questions to see if they were wise. He would pop their intellectual ego by showing they were unwise. Eventually, this would contribute to his trial and death sentence.

Socrates was notoriously ugly, so if we follow his example, we should not worry about our looks. He showed indifference to his own appearance and personal hygiene. They say he “bathed rarely, walked barefoot, and owned only one ragged coat.”

Do we really want to follow his example. How many of you honestly think he would be accepted as a philosopher today?

Philosophy used to be a way of life, now it is merely a way of making a living. Philosophy used to be the most important pursuit in a person’s life, now it is regarded as irrelevant, boring, and a complete waste of time.

Philosophy has clearly lost its way.

A Simple Epistemology

How do you know that what you believe is true? That is the question known as epistemology or the “theory of knowledge.”

I don’t think we can know very much for certain. We have to give up that search. But I do think we can discover how probable a claim to truth is.

I will make a complex issue simple. You can tell whether a claim is probably true by applying the three C’s: correspondence, consistency, and consequences.

Truth is the correspondence of a claim with reality. If what you claim matches reality then what you claim is true. If your claim doesn’t match reality then it is false.

The important question is how do you tell whether or not your belief matches reality? By the objective and verifiable evidence for or against the belief. So the correspondence is mostly about a belief matching the available evidence.

The next test of truth is the consistency of the belief with one’s whole worldview. Contraction is a sign that something is wrong, either the belief is false or part of one’s worldview is false.

The final test of truth is the consequences of accepting the claim as true. If you can live it, it may be false. You will know a claim by its fruits. You don’t get bad results from a good belief, nor do you get good results from a bad belief.

This is a very simple epistemology. It is merely the outline for a larger exploration.