The Questioning Way

P e e v e s

It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. - Epitectus

The Questioning Way is an approach to life, an attitude about both what one can know and how one goes about knowing things. It is a perception of the world, a journey into ourselves, a particular way of experiencing the world around us. Its foundation is a single premise; that certain knowledge of anything is unattainable, that everything we know and believe is a guess. This notion is not something particularly new. Over the centuries many have made it the main tenant of their lives. In the West, Socrates is perhaps the best known of these. Now, the idea that everything is a guess might at first seem nothing more than an intellectual exercise with no practical everyday application, rather like the physicist's proclamation that we all are made of subatomic particles, that we're just conglomeration's of electrical potentials. On the contrary, pursuit of the Questioning Way affects every facet of day to day living, ranging from the way we work, to what our long range goals are to the way we maintain relationships.

The Questioning Way is also a bit of a step in a different direction than Skepticism. The skeptic disbelieves a thing until he is presented with enough evidence according to whatever criteria he's partial to, to allow his belief in that thing. Theses days the preferred criteria is overwhelmingly scientific method.
Instead of arbitrarily disbelieving everything, the Questioning Way would have us suspend disbelief as well as belief. Instead, we might direct inquiry into what the significance of something's existence might be, or into what is meant by the observers reaction to that thing, or perhaps what would signified by his potential belief or disbelief or that thing. The Questioning Way is more a matter of self-inquiry than traditional skepticism or the detached unemotionally of empiricism. Insight into oneself is more important than cold facts about the world. Wisdom is found internally and is warm with emotion.

The Questioning Way requires a lot of thought. It calls for much introspection and for great scrutiny of your most basic beliefs. You begin by calling into doubt everything you ever learned. You must rediscover yourself and define a new context in which to place your idea of what it is to exist. This in turn alters your view of life around you; Learn about yourself and you learn about the world. This process is lifelong. You must wake everyday and look at yourself and the world anew. Now, this isn't to say you never decide upon certain beliefs. It doesn't mean you have to relearn how to drink out of a straw every time you get a Coke at McDonalds. Simple assumptions come easy. Rather, in a practical sense you make you're best guesses about the questions you ask yourself and go on about your daily routine. At the same time you remember that all you believe is conjecture. You keep yourself on the lookout for different ways to view each and everything you believe. You try on different beliefs to see how they work and what uses they might have. You remember all concepts are tools and you remind yourself not to hang on too tightly to one idea or another. Each tool of the mind has its uses and it's shortcomings.

What does all this thought get you? Well, the short answer is this; You get a lot of wonder. You uncover and keep with you forever that extraordinary childhood sense of curiosity and discovery. You are always aware of that essential unnamed seed of uniqueness in all you see, hear, think, and do. The immense joy of this experience we call living is always there in the back of your mind. You learn. A LOT. All the time. Everyday. You discover new things about yourself. You discover new ways to look at the world. When everything is a question, you have before you the eternal opportunity to learn.

The Questioning Way is not a religion. Our purpose here isn't to capture your belief, but rather to provide glimpses into the wanderings of some us who see all the world as a question.

Have anything to add??. Well, below is your chance to do so...*g*.

FREE feedback form powered by FreeForm