The butterfly of doubt

So I’ve been a right lazy butt over break so far, blogging wise, which you might have noticed, what with the lack of posts and all. So let’s start off 2012 slowly, and simply ponder a quote from one of my favorite novels:

In the rain-forests of Brutha’s subconscious the butterfly of doubt emerged and flapped an experimental wing, all unaware of what chaos theory has to to say about this sort of thing…

– Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

Which, frankly, is about as neat a description of skepticism, and how it works within you, as I’ve ever seen. As a rule I’m leery of anyone who claims Road to Damascus kinds of experiences. I suspect, at the least, delusion and self-deception; at the worst, bull shit being piled high. Human minds simply don’t work that way. We hold onto our ideas, give them up only reluctantly. Presented with contrary ideas, or with evidence that our ideas are wrong, we circle the wagons.

It takes a long time for those first seeds to take root and pry up a bit of the pavement in your brain. The blinding flash on the road is only the moment when you become aware of what has already happened.

The fun, of course, is that following those little butterflies, when they emerge, can be extraordinary. The journey is hard, and painful, and will remind you every step of the way what a limited being you are, as a human; yet it is chrysalis, something new born. Niggling doubts and questions took us from living in caves to landing men on the Moon, from pitiful superstitions about human origins to the discovery of evolution. Those tiny, tiny thoughts, those doubts that pop up and refuse to go away, are our greatest gift.

Which, I think, serves as a good theme for this blog, going forward.