Question Your Beliefs

Since the start of this decade, the frequency of major global events has been increasing at a rapid pace.

It seems like every year, the world is becoming more and more volatile. It feels like all of this is leading us to some sort of breaking point in the near future.

Already, the 2020s are proving to be more consequential than the 2010s.

But is this by design? Or is it all just random?

The fact is that we as average citizens, don't really know what's going on in the world at a high level.

We pretend like we do. But we really don’t.

Yes, there are things that happen on the ground, but usually, the real decisions that create chaos and order in this world happen behind closed doors.

It is no conspiracy theory at this point that there are a few people at the top who run the world we live in.

No, these people are not presidents of nations, chairmen of central banks or even directors of international institutions.

These people operate behind the scenes. You will never see these people on TV or social media.

So who are we to pretend like we know what we’re talking about?

We all have our beliefs. I certainly have mine. But to cling to those beliefs to a point where they become part of our identity is the cause of the division in our society today.

It is fascinating to watch how teams are formed around every global episode.

You either believe the pandemic was a natural event or it was planned.

You're either pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine.

You either have unwavering support for Ukraine or you don’t.

You’re either for Palestine or for Israel.

It is worrying to see how people form their opinions about certain events so quickly and then don't leave room for questioning and understanding. They just side with whatever team they feel a part of.

It is especially disturbing to see the amount of conviction people possess about these quickly formed opinions.

Once an opinion is formed, confirmation bias enters the arena and puts them on a path of cognitive dissonance so strong that even the thought of being wrong becomes unfathomable.

With each passing world event, it becomes more and more clear to me that the initial reaction is never the right one.

When people are quick to jump to conclusions, it is better to observe and wait to see how things play out.

The most recent example of this is “I stand with Israel.”

Really? You stand with Israel?

Do you stand with Israel now?

Do you stand with the genocide and the ethnic cleansing of an entire civilian population?

Again, you have your beliefs and I have mine. I'm not going to tell you what to believe and you shouldn't tell me what to believe.

What I ask you to do is first acknowledge the fact that most of the time you probably don't know what you're talking about so you shouldn't form your opinions so quickly and support something you know nothing about.

Before I started writing, I thought I understood some subjects really well. But then I tried writing about them and I was humbled to find out that I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

If you think you understand a subject well, I implore you to try to write about it. It will give you a clear measure of your knowledge about that subject.

This is one of the reasons why I continue to write. It gives me an idea about how much I truly know about something and it allows me to deepen my understanding of topics I am interested in.

We are all allowed to have our beliefs and opinions. However, your beliefs should be constantly evolving as you continue to test them and question them.

To cling onto them with extreme rigidity and not be open to changing them is a fool's game. If you still hold the same beliefs from 5 years ago, then it is probably time for a system update.

It is freeing to hold certain beliefs but accept that those beliefs can be wrong too. The truest sign of intelligence is the ability to entertain two contradictory ideas simultaneously.

As F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."