Certainty applies to this moment.

Uncertainty applies to the next moment.

Uncertainty implies that change is inevitable and what applies to this moment may not apply to the next moment... or the next... or the next...

This moment is fleeting.

Last week I said "Certainty is dishonest." Perhaps it is more accurate to say certainty is fleeting because certainty can be honest in the moment - but only in the moment. To maintain a rigid, unchanging certainty from one moment to the next, without seeking new knowledge and without questioning the status quo, is to be dull, dry, dishonest, delusional, and dangerous.

Some mistake certainty for confidence and uncertainty for weakness. I believe it is this confusion that initially encourages one to justify a manipulation of the moment. Once justified, there are many reasons and ways for one to manipulate a moment. Some do so to remain oblivious. Some want to perpetuate myth masquerading as fact. Some are holding on to a particular moment, stretching it to its limit, in order to preserve (their own and/or other's) sanity. Some do it for practical purposes. Some do it for pleasure or comfort. Some do it because they are afraid. Some finagle and finesse knowingly with an intentional agenda. And others are simply shaping a moment to their liking, unaware of consequential fallout. Thanks to these maneuverings the scope of a moment can appear to change. There are some that may equate a moment with a lifetime. Others may see a moment as a phase or stage of one's Life. Still others may believe a moment to encompass a specific time frame (such as a year, or a month, or a week, or a day), or varying frames of time as determined by the duration of a project or the attainment of a goal; and this stretching of a moment into manageable chunks is (as said) practical and understandable - to a point. It is not reasonable though to utilize multiple measures of a moment in an effort to legitimize an inflexible (or lazy) conviction. To compartmentalize a specific concept, idea, belief, mindset, creed, doctrine, ideology, and/or circumstance and apply a 'suitable to one's purpose' measure of the moment, is to be lazy, inflexible, dull, dry, dishonest, delusional, and dangerous.

Granted, it is difficult to renew each and every moment, each and every moment, and this difficulty justifies some workable accommodation; but regardless, the reality we must know is that a moment is gone in less time than it has taken to place the period at the end of this sentence.

This week in a coffee shop I sat near a bible study group as they discussed their certainty in faith. I have said before (most notably here and here) that faith (by definition) is an acknowledgement of and then a leap over unknowns and uncertainty. Faith is not faith without uncertainty. Organized religion strongly encourages (as did the leader of this bible study group) a rigid, unchanging certainty from one moment to the next. This is not merely contradictory and delusional, it is also beguiling and seductive. To be certain of an eternity by stretching a moment into an eternity must be comforting for some. For me, unquestioning quiescence is not a comfort. Yet this bible study group made up of high school students and their 20-something-year-old leader did appear to find comfort in their certainty. And I have trouble finding fault with young people seeking answers. But I would like to see a balance of opposing thought, so that we are not 'only' pushing agendas that proclaim WHAT one is to think, but we are also providing all individuals with an opportunity to learn HOW to think.

One of the first lessons in HOW to think is to know that if only one perspective is presented, there are multiple opposing perspectives disguised or hidden. It is my responsibility to locate, unmask, analyze, and argue. And when opposing perspectives are presented and/or found, if any (or all but one) are arbitrarily dismissed or dismissed due to past thinking or dismissed based on the thinking of another, we have done a disservice to the integrity of this moment and to our self.

I believe the manipulation of moments and delusional certainty to be a characteristic of one who is perceiving their mind as perceiving through reflection, whereas one who perceives their mind as perceiving through the senses is more likely to be adaptable, skeptical, and open to new learning. In other words thoughts attached to sensory experience are more applicable to humanity's progress and survival, and more susceptible to helping one to learn HOW to think; whereas free-floating detached thoughts have more potential to stifle and divide because an individual or group is dictating (or at least advising) WHAT to think. This potential for conflict springs and attacks when one of these detached thoughts is applied and attached to an aspect of our daily existence and/or insinuates itself into our ongoing Life experience, thus corrupting the moment and encouraging delusional certainty.

Simply put, questions answered by belief (i.e. reflective thought) are more controversial and more subject to disagreement than those answered by fact (i.e. sensory experience). Any bias toward belief over fact will lead to divisiveness and (depending on the balance of power) a potential suppression of opposing thought.

I am not suggesting (even if we could) that we eliminate reflective thought. It is not only unavoidable (and enjoyable), but it is also necessary to the learning process which includes finding and asking questions that may ultimately be answered through sensory perception. Experiential thought will ground and balance reflective thought, and reflective thought will drive and elevate experiential thought. Both are necessary, but they must work together in a manner that will inspire progress.

In looking at how these concepts (a moment, certainty, uncertainty, reflective thought, and experiential thought) relate I believe I have a better understanding of why an individual becomes dependent upon belief to a point where sensory experience (i.e. fact) takes a back seat. If we separate a moment into 1) past moments, 2) this moment, and 3) the next moment, and we visualize a volume of certainty, uncertainty, reflective thought, and experiential thought to place within each category of moments, I believe we will see that in theory there is a functional balance in place. But if we manipulate the moments by stretching, redefining, overlooking, or ignoring I believe we will see that in practice reflective certainty predominates. Looking more closely...

PAST MOMENTS:

• In theory, because these are moments we have experienced, and through this experience formulated beliefs, neither experiential thought nor reflective thought have a clear advantage; it is a draw. But because we each recognize the fallibility of human memory and our tendency toward comfort, we are dubious, thus allowing uncertainty to trump certainty.
• In practice certainty trumps uncertainty because I believe we adjust our memories to be consistent with our beliefs; and because of this conformance, reflective thought trumps experiential thought. Additionally, with 'past moments' we are able to lump them all together thus supporting one memory always consistent with belief, and we are easily able to convince ourselves of this (misremembered) interpretation.

THIS MOMENT:

• In theory 'this (fleeting) moment' is the only time we can be certain of certainty because we are actually experiencing it, therefore certainty trumps uncertainty and experiential thought trumps reflective thought.
• In practice we mistake this moment as malleable and stretch our certainty into the next moment, and (for many) the next, and the next, and the next... And when we do this, we have essentially eliminated an actual 'this moment' by allowing past moments to time travel. Therefore certainty trumps uncertainty, and because we are thinking past this moment into a future certainty, reflective thought trumps experiential thought.

THE NEXT MOMENT:

• In theory we cannot be at all certain of the next moment, but we can (and should) examine likelihoods and reflectively assess potential (Exoteric) Goodness and (Inner) Peace, and live this moment accordingly. Uncertainty trumps certainty and reflective thought trumps experiential thought.
• In practice past moments have already time traveled into the next moment, so we already know what will happen. Certainty trumps uncertainty and because there is no future experience, (and even though any reflective thought is from past moments), reflective thought again trumps experiential thought.

Winner In Theory (by a nose) - Reflective Uncertainty.

Winner In Practice (by a knockout) - Reflective Certainty.

I believe Reflective Certainty (as presented) to be an accurate depiction of our present-day vocal majority; and I believe this overall assessment (as presented) to be accurately applicable to our current status quo; and I believe reflective certainty (not balanced by uncertainty and experiential confidence) to be lazy, inflexible, dull, dry, dishonest, delusional, and dangerous.

I also believe that the thinking minority - those who practice a balance of Reflective Uncertainty and Experiential Confidence - is growing not only in numbers, but also in knowledge and comprehension; and I know this bodes well for progress.

Unfortunately, I also still see an overabundance of individuals ranging on a spectrum from fat and happy sheep to the subservient and destitute all created and exploited by the power of reflective certainty.

We must move away from the complex delusion of a misremembered past, an oblivious moment, and a certain future, and we must move toward the more effective simplicity of learning from the past to live in the moment for the future.