All posts tagged: Doubt

When in Doubt, Cry (or Bark) It Out

When in Doubt, Cry (or Bark) It Out

Published by Jenni Sidey

A resilient person doesn’t always feel resilient. In fact, some days, resilient people feel utterly defeated. In the middle of a crisis, or a very bad month or week, doubt rushes in. All my life, people have told me I’m “the strongest person” they know, that I’m “resilient.” Nothing stops me. They count on their many fingers the scenarios and events and bad times I’ve overcome, moments they say they’d never survive. I’m not sure they give themselves enough credit for their triumphs. But that aside, yes, the fact is, when the going gets tough, I am dogged. And yet I, too, have times when I doubt that I can make it through, or even get out of bed. What can you do when you aren’t feeling resilient, but need to find resilience? Find relief in simple things: I used to live in a very troubling housing situation in which there seemed to be no way out. Despite my efforts, I wasn’t able to secure a new place to live, for more than two years. …

When Change Makes You Doubt Yourself

When Change Makes You Doubt Yourself

Published by Jenni Sidey

When you’re struggling with workplace changes, who do you blame? The shifting market conditions requiring another pivot? The out-of-touch executives sitting around a boardroom table? The tired team members who no longer seem to care? Or yourself? Our research, in different countries and at different times, keeps finding that when our confidence in change wobbles, the first person we point the finger of blame at is … ourselves. We tie ourselves in knots of self-doubt, let our inner critic get way too loud, and become ashamed to ask for help. Then, we work harder, faster, and longer hours, hoping to figure it out. And when that doesn’t work, we start avoiding the changes or complaining about them loudly to others. “When we’re navigating changes—whether we chose them or not—we often expect perfection of ourselves, but that’s not reality,” explained Kristin Neff, one of the world’s leading researchers on self-compassion when we interviewed her recently on a podcast. “We all bump up against our limitations, fall short of our ideals, and make mistakes. That is the …

Beyond Suspicion: Why We Doubt Greatness and What It Says About Us

Beyond Suspicion: Why We Doubt Greatness and What It Says About Us

Published by Jenni Sidey

The other day, I stumbled over an article in Canadian Cycling Magazine dealing with the suspicion raised after Tadej Pogačar’s win in Milan–San Remo. Cycling, more than most sports, carries a past full of performance-enhancing drug use that cannot, and should not, simply be forgotten. Critical thinking matters. Blind belief is not a virtue. Never has been. Yet, there is a risk here—a subtle shift in which skepticism becomes the default lens. However, the past does not always repeat itself, neither in sport nor in people’s lives. It is well-known that people change because of the pain certain behaviors have caused. This realization led me to write this post, proposing that extraordinary performance could be seen as an invitation to understanding, rather than merely a trigger for doubt. After all, what we may be witnessing in riders like Pogačar is not simply physical dominance—but something far less visible, and far less understood: mental mastery. The Invisible Work Modern sport has changed. It is not just about biology or technology; psychology matters, too. The question is …

Organizing Doubt: Before CSICOP Had a Name

Organizing Doubt: Before CSICOP Had a Name

Published by Sam Flores

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of columns from Massimo Polidoro as he recounts stories from the history of the modern skeptical movement and the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). Before CSICOP had a name, a mission, or a public face, it already had a problem. The idea of forming a nonprofit skeptical organization was born in the summer of 1973, as we have seen in my previous column, when James Randi began sharing his thoughts with Martin Gardner and Ray Hyman about the urgent need for a coordinated response to the growing wave of paranormal claims. One early working name for this hypothetical group was SIR: Sanity in Research. In a letter to Randi dated August 14, 1973, Hyman made it clear that the organization should offer “something POSITIVE rather than project an image of being a debunking organization.” At the same time, Hyman was acutely aware of a potential problem. A group prominently associated with Randi, Gardner, and him, he warned, risked being immediately …

Suppressing Doubt Is Lying to Ourselves

Suppressing Doubt Is Lying to Ourselves

Published by Jenni Sidey

Doubt is an uncomfortable position, but certainty is a ridiculous one. — Voltaire In polarized times, we tend to think in terms of negative labels applied to those who disagree with us. Like all characterizations, labels are heavily biased. Most often based on superficial analysis, or none at all, they’re used more as slurs than attempts to understand or communicate. They cast decent people and bad actors alike as “enemies.” Negative labels and characterizations give us an illusion of conviction. But the illusion is little more than suppression and denial of doubt. Genuine conviction is the resolution of known doubt, while remaining open to conflicting evidence. Doubt leads us to deeper thinking, grounded in probabilities rather than biased assumptions and generalizations. These days, the adversarial tone of dialogue makes even people without opinions sound opinionated. It used to be that folks were afraid of sounding dumb. We seem to have liberated ourselves from that inhibition. Now, folks are more afraid of offending those who share their oversimplified worldview or of giving comfort to those who …

Overcoming doubt & Disappointment

Overcoming doubt & Disappointment

Published by Sam Flores

By Jennifer LeClair Doubt is like a debilitating disease that leaves its victims helpless and hopeless. Overcome doubt and disappointment. Doubt is the door-way to unbelief.” When I heard the Holy Spirit speak those words, I began to ponder the danger of doubt. I began to see doubt as more than just a mindset that prevents us from casting the proverbial mountain into the sea. I began to see doubt as a spiritual disease whose goal is to cripple our Christian lives. I dub this disease doubtaholism. Doubt is a cousin of fear and suspicion that blocks faith and discernment. To doubt is to lack confidence in the Word of God. Doubt is failing to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like alcohol, doubt is a depressant. It damages our heart, lowers our resistance to infection, and leaves us impotent. Just like alcoholism, chronic doubt impairs our learning ability, disorients us, and causes mental confusion. In Deuteronomy 28:66, we learn that doubt is part of the curse of the law: “Your life shall hang …