I am often unable to decide upon an opinion, as I know that my knowledge of the subject is incomplete. For example, I am unsure of whether the (as it currently seems to me) few insights that psychology can add to our knowledge of the human mind and human behavior that cannot be found out using reason and individual observations is worth spending my and others’ time and resources on. Another example is my unwillingness to pick a side in the debate about free will, as I know that there are arguments I am not aware of. This inability to decide upon an opinion among many chooses, as I know there might be valid counter-arguments to my view that I do not know of, heavily impacts my life. The psychology example illustrates these consequences well: as I cannot decide on whether psychology is worth studying or not, I feel insecure about taking the big step to starting studying psychology, as it might be the wrong thing to do. My doubting of the very foundations of many opinions, and as in the example of free will,...
Dear Friend - I say your willingness to say 'I don't know' in the face of complex problems is to be applauded. The "patron saint" of all philosophers, Socrates, is most famous for admitting his ignorance and using it as a starting point for investigation. More recently contemporary philosopher Harry Frankfurt released two wonderful little books, called On Bullshit and On Truth . There he observes that too many of us are willing to make stuff up, demonstrating an indifference to the truth (we are B.S. ing, in other words), instead of just admitting to our ignorance. So it is worth taking a moment to compliment you on your refusal to B.S. your way through important problems. But this does lead us to the second problem, that you therefore aren't sure how to make decisions about what is worth doing or worth believing. My suggestion is to put your ideas to the test by using critical thinking methods: First, rule out options that seem totally wrong or off the mark. Then, choose between...
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