139. Excessive Skepticism

To respect the limits of knowledge, we must be skeptical. Skepticism reminds us to investigate the nature of all things, to see what holds up to inquiry and what might be unreliable. By questioning what we see and hear, we prevent ourselves from uncritically accepting what seems natural and necessary but is actually constructed and contingent. We reaffirm the uncertainty of our knowledge, and we stop ourselves from falling into the delusion that we know what we really do not know.

But skepticism can also become excessive. When our doubt is unrestrained, we begin to trust nothing and no one, and we become afraid of the world around us. If this fear and distrust becomes all-encompassing, we descend into the abyss of cynicism, where we cannot see anything as real or valuable — perhaps not even life itself. We must counter our skepticism with acceptance of the world. We must question what we see, but we must also believe and trust.

Skepticism can also be oriented inwards, towards the self. As with the world, skepticism of the self is valuable insofar as it encourages investigation of our thoughts and feelings, which helps us become more aware of ourselves. If we are overly certain about our judgments and values, we might become righteous and harm others by following mistaken beliefs. But if we are excessively skeptical, we might begin to lose faith in ourselves. We might become incapable of trusting our own choices, and we might even become incapable of taking action of any kind.

We must question everything but we cannot allow our questions to prevent us from doing what is needed. We must question and we must act. We must be skeptical of even our own skepticism, and allow ourselves to trust what we see and act on our present understanding, even though it lacks the certainty we desire.