I was reading a post about the application of a Socrates quote in these times — an unexamined life isn’t worth living. The writer mentioned how many who bring up this quote to question things in their lives do so without taking any action. Here’s what they proposed: Philosophy has a name for the better alternative: fallibilism, developed within the pragmatist tradition by Charles Sanders Peirce. It holds that you can act on your beliefs with real, genuine confidence while accepting that any of them might, in principle, be revised by better evidence. Yes, you can believe in something and act based on those beliefs while keeping an “open mind” until you learn otherwise. That makes sense practically speaking, but there’s an easier approach. What if you stopped having beliefs altogether about people and things, and simply go by what’s true for you? Here’s how. Assume nothing. Question everything. Judge nothing. It won’t happen overnight, but you can get started right away. Think about it. What is a belief if not holding onto a thought about reality?! Last week, someone on social asked me about my “belief in God” as a response to my comment on their post. I replied, saying I don’t know what “God” is. I said I don’t have any evidence for or against it. I’m neither a believer nor an atheist. That said, if or when there is evidence either way, then it wouldn’t be a belief, because then you would know one way or another. When you know, you know. This is why I tend to shy away from beliefs. It’s easier to talk about something when it’s true in your own experience as opposed to believing in something that you don’t know to be true. That’s not to say you can’t have beliefs. You can believe others when they speak from their experience, even though it’s not true for you. Hence, the “belief”. It’s necessary to make the distinction between believing others and knowing it for yourself. And because you trust them, you have no reason to disbelieve them.