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Certainty Means Nothing

 

 

A casual stroll through a lunatic asylum
shows that certainty means nothing

- Nietzsche

The tacit premise of perception is: My current interpretations are accurate and complete depictions of objective reality, and I will always perceive things as I do now. In fact, your interpretation are creative constructions of a nervous system that is biased by its perspective and emotional state at that moment [see Illusions]. The belief that you perceive things as they really are, is responsible for most of the avoidable suffering in your subjective world.

It is your life and you can dedicate it to anything you want. You can choose to die for your beliefs. Some people are willing to kill for their beliefs because they are certain that their beliefs are objectively true. Likewise, some clerics are certain that their religion is more valid than all the others. The same certainty that my beliefs are correct and the others are wrong holds for sports fans, politicians, nutritional supplement vendors, and other believers. Click here for: The Case Against Certainty.

People with Bipolar Disorder experience the world differently when manic than when depressed. In either case, they are certain that their current perspective is objectively valid. Even those with the insight to know better often make irreversible decisions during states of mind that they know will change.

Just as there is no "most valid" perspective for a photograph, there is no "most valid" perspective from which to appreciate objective reality. I may not like how I look when a photograph is taken of me from a particular angle, but, sadly, that is how I look from that perspective. However, because I am motivated to look attractive, I want my photo to be taken from the most flattering [advantageous] angle — although that perspective is no more or less valid than any other.

When I look at something, I have to stand somewhere, and so what I see is only the image as it appears from that angle. There is no such thing as a single complete visual image; no particular vantage point is the correct or valid one.

Likewise, all ideations take place from particular perspectives. This means that there are many possible conceptual schemes, or perspectives from which judgment of truth or value can be made. No particular perspective can be taken as definitively "true."

 

It is a fundamental error to believe that you can use validity as the basis of selecting among perspective. Just like a photographer, you have to choose some perspective. Since you cannot use validity as the basis of selection, Nietzsche recommends using utility in promoting your interests and principles as the basis of choosing the perspective from which you interpret the events that happen.

A critical perspective is no more or less valid than a supportive perspective, but they have different consequences for the beholder. Choose the perspective that brings the best out of you according to your interests and principles. [Methods to discover your interests and principles are described at: What Am I Supposed To Be Doing With My Life?]

Pathogenic Perspectives

While some beliefs are factually false and hence not worth considering, the important ones are neither true nor false. Consider these: "My future is hopeless." "I am a worthless failure." The first is a prediction and the second is an opinion.  Neither is objectively true; neither is objectively false.  Nevertheless, accepting either as valid will have a profound effect on my emotional state, how effectively I handle real-world challenges, and my course through life.  It would be more advantageous for me to take a perspective that promotes strength, perseverance, and heroism.

Some clients resist changing their perspective on the grounds that they should resist the temptation to change how they perceive things in order to get a payoff for doing so. Nietzsche would point out that your current perspective will always bias your appraisal of which is the most valid perspective, believing that it is more valid than any other. Perspectives need changing when they produce unwanted payoffs. The aforementioned resistance to change is a consequence of the false belief that the original perspective is more valid than the more advantageous perspective.

Associative and Dissociative Perspectives

When you dream about yourself do you see your face as if you were watching a movie [observer's perspective]? Or, do you see the world through the actor's eyes [first-person perspective], so you would only see your face if you were looking into a mirror?

You may react to an emotionally provocative event differently in retrospect than you did when it happened, because to make sense of the memory you have to switch from the first-person perspective to the observer's perspective. However, when it happened in real-time you were experiencing the first-person perspective.

The first-person perspective tends to evoke more passionate, impulsive reactions. The observer's perspective tends to be more dispassionate and aware of the big picture and long-term consequences.

Thought Experiment: The Dispassionate Observer's Perspective

Imagine that you are a wise and kindly observer who knows something the actor does not. For this thought experiment, instead of rocks beneath the surface of a lake, or a situation that elicits a self-sabotaging emotional reaction, imagine how the trajectory of your life looks to a dispassionate observer who has unconditional positive regard for you. Now, consider some important decisions ahead. What suggestions do you have for the actor?

Switching from the first-person perspective of the actor to the perspective of the dispassionate observer does not give you access to the "true" perspective. Nevertheless, the exercise of "trying on" different perspectives and noting how they effect your reactions will give you insight into the relationship between your inner reality and the objective world. Meta-Cognitive Awareness — the understanding that your current perspective is just one of many you could take — can free you from the illusion that there is anything special about the particular beliefs and perspectives you buy into at the moment. This awareness is particularly valuable during emotionally charged moments.

The key to using this method of changing your perspective is to select a persona who will promote an advantageous reaction to the things that happen. Shifting into a relentlessly critical dissociative perspective is counter-productive, but for many reasons it may have become the default perspective for you. Needles to say, the intention of self-criticism is to improve your performance. However, the judgmental perspective of the shame-inducing, scolding critic is misguided. You will achieve better results if you take on the perspective that promotes confidence and self-efficacy.

 

Applied Perspectivism > >

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