The Skeptic
The Skeptic
- also spelt Sceptic - is generally any questioning attitude towards unempirical
knowledge or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, a method of intellectual caution
and suspended judgement.
Also an attitude of doubt regarding claims or a
disposition to incredulity, that are taken for granted elsewhere. Skeptics
may even doubt the reliability of their own senses.
Skepticism is often
separated into categories related to morality - right or wrong - or religion -
religious doubt - or the nature of
knowledge - there is no knowledge beyond how things appear.
Some definitions of the Skeptic
·
Philosophical skepticism is a systematic
approach that questions the notion that absolutely certain knowledge is
possible.
·
Classical philosophical skepticism derives from the 'Skeptikoi', a school who ‘asserted
nothing’.
·
Religious skepticism, on the other hand, is ‘doubt
concerning basic religious principles, such as immortality, providence, and
revelation’.
·
Scientific skepticism is about testing
beliefs for reliability, by subjecting them to systematic
investigation using the scientific method, to discover empirical evidence for them.
·
Legal skeptism is a branch of jurisprudence, an essence, a critique of the natural law theories and of the legal positivism.
Sometimes the word skeptic can be perceived as a rather harsh word and at other times
it fully resonates. We move in and out of skepticism
as human beings, driven by the senses, the heart or by the head.
Quite simply – when choose to assume the role
of the skeptic, we don’t believe what
we are hearing or seeing to be true, to be a fact, a reality and more especially
when we are feeling vulnerable.
Vulnerability
The general perception of vulnerability is that it is weakness.
However, it is absolutely at the core of fear, anxiety, shame and every emotion
we experience and it is also the birthplace of love, belonging, of creativity,
of faith.
We’re actually losing our capacity and
tolerance for vulnerability, because
joy actually becomes almost foreboding. It’s much easier to live a disappointed
life, than to admit being vulnerable
– We numb it out.
Vulnerability is the state of being open to injury, or appearing as if you are. It might be emotional, like admitting that you are in love with someone, who might only like you as a friend, or it can also be literal, like the vulnerability of a soccer goal that is unprotected by any defensive players.
Vulnerability refers to the inability of a system or a unit, to withstand the effects of a hostile environment.
A window of vulnerability - WoV - is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, compromised or lacking.
Social Vulnerability
Social
vulnerability is one dimension of vulnerability to multiple stressors, the agent responsible for stress and
shocks, including abuse, social exclusion and natural hazards.
Social vulnerability refers to the inability of people, organizations and
societies to withstand adverse impacts from multiple stressors to which they
are exposed. These impacts are due in part to characteristics inherent in
social interactions, institutions, and systems of cultural values.
Cognitive Vulnerability
A cognitive vulnerability, in cognitive psychology, is an erroneous belief, a
cognitive bias or pattern of thought that is believed to predispose the
individual to psychological problems. It
is in place before the symptoms of psychological disorders start to appear, after
the individual encounters a stressful experience, the cognitive vulnerability
shapes a maladaptive response
that may lead to a psychological disorder.
In psychopathology, cognitive vulnerability is constructed from schema models,
hopelessness models and attachment theory. Attentional
bias is one mechanism leading to faulty cognitive bias that leads to cognitive vulnerability. Allocating a
danger level to a threat depends on the urgency or intensity of the threshold.
The World today
The reality
today is that we are living in a very fast-paced world, with information
streaming in at a phenomenal pace, via the Internet, mainstream Media and
Social Media and so on, where we can very quickly and easily be swept into
believing untruths and buy into unhealthy mindsets with convincing mind control
techniques by all these and other mediums.
Many of us live in a culture where
there is not enough, the big diverse divide is a reality, it’s not safe enough,
we are not good enough, we are not extraordinary enough. Somehow an ordinary
life has become synonymous with a meaningless life and we are missing what is
most important, because we are on this journey we believe is extraordinary, not
understanding that it is in the ordinary moments of our lives, where we can
find the most joy !
How do we thrive on the planet as Skeptics and Vulnerable human beings ?
No quick or final answers here I’m afraid … a few thought
to ponder on …
·
Don’t believe everything you see or read
·
Research all you can before assuming it to be
true or judging it
·
Tap into your intuition and inner genius
·
Listen to your inner child
·
Surround the situation with loving, positive
energy
·
Surround yourself with people who are on the
same mission and you are
·
Allow more joy, love and gratitude into your
life
·
Stop, breathe listen
