Scepticism: we don’t believe in spirits, but…

Of course, for the sake of our sanity and respectfulness, none of us believes in spirits. We cannot see any; they don’t exist – the same logic applies for the inexistence of the world itself, since blinds cannot see it. But you never know.

We don’t believe in spirits, but… You never know. Some believe in an omnipresent transcendental power that some among these some call God or Allah. But spirits no, these cannot exist. How frightful would it be if they did, right? Can you imagine going to the toilet in the middle of the night and witnessing some of them playing around with your stuff? My goodness. Better not believe in them, so they don’t even dare to show up. 

God is another story. He’s the good guy who will hear your prayers. It would be even nice, a great honour, to get His visit. Instead of messing up with your stuff while you are in the toilet, He would transform it into gold for sure.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot those who state not to believe in anything. There’s a bunch of them. These don’t need to believe in anything because they managed to reach the certainty that they don’t believe in anything. This is not a belief; this is C-E-R-T-A-I-N-T-Y, something that Cartesian rationalism blessed Westerns with. These certain guys are so certain that they have pleasure to put in doubt everything that they are not certain about, including the certainty of others who see spirits in the middle of the night.

It is so self-evident that 80% of the world population is lost for lacking the ability to reach the state of mind of certainty, that these guys get really pissed when someone puts their certainty into question. They will correct me: it’s Cartesian scepticism, the opposite of certainty. However, Descartes, while preaching the doubt about everything, forgot to doubt his own doubt (I’m thankful to Merleau-Ponty for the hint).

Let’s doubt our own doubt

So let’s be fair and doubt the existence of spirits, of God, of rationalism as well as of money as omnipresent transcendental powers. Let’s doubt our own doubt, our arrogance in believing (non-believers, you may switch the word to “firmly considering”) that our scepticism is:

a) certain, and not really sceptical;

b) sceptical in general, and not only in regard to what we disagree and dislike;

c) so amazing that we have the duty to spread it and convince others of our own certain doubts.

I’ve heard from people that they only actually pray or practice any controversy against their Holy Rationalism when desperate. Once they lose their hope in Rationalism, in the illusion that one has full control over his own life – which would actually imply the control of others’ lives too –, they desperately try other ways they so much doubt and curse. Western medicine was not working anymore, Psychoanalysis neither. Why not go for alternative therapies, such as yoga, hypnosis, past life regression, shamanism? Whatever works.

Rationalism will justify: it’s placebo. Life would be indeed much simpler if we could hold some pills labelled “placebo” on our bedside for every time we feel vulnerable. Whatever name He gives to it, as to comfort us again with the illusion of control, Holy Rationalism was defeated by a power transcending Him.

You never know: “No creo en las brujas, pero que las hay, las hay”. We don’t believe in placebo either, but somehow it really damn works, as confirmed by Rationalism. We don’t believe in spirits, but we don’t want to mess with them; better leave them alone if we don’t want to risk being haunted by them. By the way, my apologies for messing with the dead spirits of Descartes and Merleau-Ponty.