I believe that it is important to doubt everything before you believe in it. Generally, attitude to doubt is regarded as a bad thing, and heart to believe as a virtue. However, I think it is necessary for everyone to assume an attitude to doubt, because doubting things will eventually let you believe in it with confidence. This sounds like a paradox, but it actually isn’t, and I’ll discuss the reasons about it in the paragraphs below.
By acquiring a skill of ‘doubt’, you will be able to think deeply about one thing before making a certain decision. Now, I will explain why we need a skill to doubt and think deeply about one thing.
Living in a society in which the information level has been highly developed, we get massive information everyday throughout SNS, also known as social networking service. Therefore, the world is filled with wrong and false information, and whether this is on purpose or on accident, it is very dangerous for us to believe in those information. It is important for you to decide on your own, and investigate whether that information is true or not.
Existence and importance of the media is one of the issues I also want to discuss about too. Although people seems to be aware of false information on SNS, they tend to believe without any doubt in an information which comes out of social media, such as TVs, radios and newspapers. We have to be aware of it, and realize that what social media tells us are only a part of the whole, just the one side of a problem. We have to doubt the information and search the fact that might be hidden from the public or that had not been told. The things that are hard for us to see with our own eyes, such as politics and international issues are hard for us to intake as a knowledge in daily life. Therefore, we tend to acquire it in an easy way; believing in every bits of facts that are on TVs, radios, and newspapers. Although, it is very dangerous for us to do so, since as I’ve written before, just because an information is on TV, radio, or newspaper, doesn’t mean that it is a right and believable information.
To ‘doubt’ things means not to believe in just one fact. It means you have to compare several information from different sources and collect evidences that that information is not a false one. Looking at one thing from different perspectives are the most important thing when considering about information. The process of thinking in your head is necessary. Once you are influenced by preconceptions, it is hard for you to throw that preconceptions away and look away from the real fact.
As I said before, it is important to first ‘doubt’ the information, and to ‘doubt’ things means to gain knowledge. See as much as you can, and think from different points of view. Do not think that you know everything, and keep doubting things. I believe this is one of the important skills people need to acquire.