I am a natural sceptic. It is usually my default position.
That makes me sound a little negative I am sure in many minds. We have somehow created a world in which dominant, certain and strongly held views are considered to be worth following. While sceptics are negative.
Even when I was an MP I was fascinated by the certainty of many of my colleagues on every imaginable subject. I will still young and from a school system that didn’t really teach absolute certainty (I have now discovered of course their certainty is more often than not arrogance!) So I looked forward to a day I would know so much about the world I would have equal certainty about my worldview on every subject.
Even though I have now been active in work and volunteer roles for over 30 years, picking up some wisdom along the way I am still far from certain in my views and positions on many things! I have often regarded this as a bit of a weakness of mine when I am self reflecting. I put myself down as indecisive.
But I am increasingly believing experiencing doubt about a position, idea of belief is a sign of thinking well. I have often been described in recent years in my columns as a Thought Leader. Again this gives the idea that I know the answers and can provide leadership.
But I don’t. My Thought Leadership is to ask lots of questions and get beyond the parroting of clichés I hear all around me in many aspects of my work. It happens in Sport (inspiring and changing lives are two clichés that grate on me now) and in economic development. I freely admit when I throw questions around that I don’t always know the answer, but that we can’t proceed is none of us in the room know the answer or are willing to to try to find a solution.
All too often much of this is cognitive bias. We mix in small social groups and believe everybody sees the world from our perspective. Rebel thinking and diversity are not just tick box exercises but absolutely crucial at getting the best outcomes.
Division
We are a divided nation. I have been struggling in the last few years about how we can disagree well on big issues like Brexit , Johnson and Covid. I have always believed in empathy and understanding the starting point of others in developing a way to disagree but find common ground. That has become harder since the 2016 Brexit vote.
We will never win an argument (do we ever win?) by stating a series of facts at each other. I have written about this numerous times in my adoration of the George Lakoff book - Don’t Think of an Elephant. But having just read a book on critical thinking I need to take this a stage further. What If I not only learn how to disagree well but actually considered I might be wrong?
So back to my scepticism. We all know what it means to be sceptical - to doubt received opinion to probe for answers and to regard simple explanations with suspicion.
To be sceptical means to be in possession of and to exercise a restless and questioning mind. That’s a good thing right?
You might not know is that scepticism originally referred to a school of thought in ancient Greece that emphasised just how little we humans can ever know about the world. As the ancient sceptics pointed out our minds are subject to innumerable distortions biases and errors and to doubt ourselves is often the wisest course of action.
In day to day affairs you can generally identify effective thinkers by the caution nuance and humility with which they articulate their positions. They are aware of the minds tricks and distortions consider issues from multiple perspectives and take the time to disengage from emotional and irrational ways of thinking.
That isn’t to say that a sceptic should never adopt a certain viewpoint of course. They should but when they layout their opinions they do it in a precise considered and tentative manner. Sceptical thinkers have learned to be suspicious of hasty generalisations and sweeping statement.
If you want to become a more sceptical and effective thinker there’s one simple step you need to take in order to start, genuinely entertain the idea that everything you believe could be wrong
It’s a radical notion I know. You don’t have actually need to be ‘wrong’ but even entertaining the idea is a really good starting point.
Doubt is a good thing. So what will you rethink this week. What certainty would benefit from a little scepticism?