Albert Einstein once said ‘The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. The curiosity to know leads a man to the path of knowledge’ If Einstein is correct, this very quote implies that doubt is definitely the key to attain knowledge. Without the uprising of doubts in a person’s mind, there is no curiosity in that person, and without curiosity, there is no knowledge. But, it is not only doubt that plays an important role. Innumerous other occurrences have been evaluated upon and reasoned by the other areas of knowledge too! But how did this reasoning come about? Why do we believe in the model of the solar system today that was opposed and despised a few centuries ago? Why are we people enjoying the benefits that a democracy provides us today when almost half the world was dominated by the British empire about a century ago? Why do scientists still spend millions of dollars on scientific research despite knowing that many theories put forward by scientists have been falsified? The answer to every single question above lies in that very word, ‘why?’. We did and continue to do so because the element of doubt raised in our minds. That very curiosity to know more.
To provide the best evaluation of this concept, I intend to pick up examples from my own personal experiences by applying this type of thinking into my life as well as describe how I’ve seen others apply this concept to theirs. The two areas of knowledge which I propose to deal with forthrightly are human sciences and natural sciences.
‘Doubt is the key to knowledge’, the Persian proverb clings a lot of meaning along with it and blatantly strikes an interesting knowledge issue when considered with the areas of knowledge human sciences and natural sciences. On putting forward the question, to what extent is this true in human sciences and natural sciences, it leaves me in a dilemma on thinking what I think I know and, why I think I possess that knowledge. So, ‘To what extent can the curiosity to know more lead us to attaining the right knowledge?’ Through this essay, I intend to put forward various pieces of information which revolve around the concept of doubt being the key to attain knowledge and justify it to be true in the two areas of knowledge.
The least contrived example I can bring up for the given statement is the happenings in the class room during a class. The teachers teach us students everything they can, everything piece of knowledge that the textbook holds, everything they know. But, there are few students in the class who are inquisitive to know more. They have their own doubts. Some do not understand what the teacher is trying to interpret in what he/she is saying. Those students have their own doubts. In both cases, the result is ultimately gaining knowledge.
But, it is essential for a person not to only look at the bright side of anything. We must also take the other side of the coin into consideration. We must always look for a counter-argument.
“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.” – Gautam Buddha
Taking into consideration of what Buddha said, we can come to a conclusion that doubt can also be counter-productive. Doubt is capable of hindering the ability of gaining knowledge. If, for example, I do not seem to understand anything that is typed out and printed written in my chemistry textbook, is it possible for a person like me who is not a scientist or a teacher to add new knowledge? Is it ever possible for me to get impressed and enlightened about new theories? I will most definitely have to consider majority of the things mentioned in the books. I will subsequently have to critically assess my doubts and apprehensions from a dispassionate point of view, so that prejudices and biases do not hinder the process.
In the field of astronomy, a branch of natural science, a very hackneyed example is that of Copernicus’ model of the solar system. His belief of a heliocentric model was considered contrary to the orthodox religious doctrine by the Church, which beseeched gruesome punishments on him. But, looking at the latter half, it is Copernicus’ model of the solar system which is widely recognised by the people around the world today. Copernicus’ model was proved to be right only because various scientists ‘doubted’ whether the geocentric model of the solar system, which was considered to be true before, was true now. Thus it is the element of doubt, which led us as well as those scientists to attain knowledge.
On the contrary however, doubt can also lead to adversities which are unimaginable. In the field of chemistry, another branch of natural science, another example is that of the very renowned scientists, Karl Scheele. Scheele was a brilliant chemist who discovered many chemical elements. In the days of his career, he doubted how these chemical elements would taste. He thought that tasting these elements would give him new knowledge and ease his research and experiments. This very curiosity of his, led to his death. He died due to symptoms accounting to mercury poisoning.
In the example above, it is clearly evident that as much as doubt helps in attaining knowledge, it is capable of destroying one’s life too.
Taking human sciences into consideration, if we look at Political Science, a subject which is present at the domain of human sciences, we can derive that the element of doubt does not only rise in the field of natural sciences. Most countries today are democracies. Even today, United States president Barack Obama recently emphasised the importance of democracy in his speech delivered in Mumbai. The question comes up again, why? Why has the political scene changed so much in such a short period of time? Why did Russia become a democratic state from a communist state one? All the above events happened because certain people doubted the method this world was running.
On the contrary, however, doubt can often mislead a person in the area of human sciences as well. Taking into consideration human biology which is another branch of human science, we can say that doubt can also lead to devastating results. Renowned scientist Elizabeth Fleischman Ascheim, died to her own experiment. Elizabeth is known for her contribution to X-Ray and opened the first X-Ray lab in the US. She experimented on herself out of curiosity and doubt whether the X-Ray machines would work. However, constant experimentation led her to an extremely violent cancer which ultimately led to her death.
In conclusion, due to the broadness and ambiguity of the knowledge areas of natural sciences and human sciences, it is impossible to accurately evaluate doubt and its ability to be responsible for the key to attaining knowledge. Nevertheless, through research on these areas of knowledge, this essay presents the stand that doubt, to a large extent, is an important factor as the key to knowledge. Doubt is the key, the door is the curiosity prevailing in our minds and what lies beyond that door is called knowledge.