What Is Doubt?

I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.
(sorry, couldn't help myself. Lol )

That's okay Janine many people don't but I doubt you're one of them

I doubt you're getting the answer you're looking for.
lol! j/k ; )

Everything and anything tells me something

Uh oh...another joke popped in mind but I'll be good and not say it. Haha! : P

Doubt is the opposite of faith. It is remembrance of past failure. It doesn't take much for the mind to latch on. Perhaps that is what coined the phrase " a seed of doubt". Which is enough to get out of jail free:))

Doubt is when i got a huge crush on this hot, gorgeous guy and then he tells me that he really really really likes me, that he is single and not gay. That is doubt. :D

Everyone has doubts about themselves and others. We may doubt our abilities. It is especially helpful if we are surrounded by supportive people who give us encouragement.

We surely have our doubts about the truthfulness of stories especially some tall tales told over the internet.

Doubt is a normal reaction.

@Karen. it begs the question, what came first the faith or the doubt?
@Ana, you should try and raise your expectations and see if that works..
@ Janice, Yes doubt is normal and a defense mechanism, but from what?

i'll try robert... ill try... ahhahah :=)

The doubt came first.

@Karen, I'd have to agree ..

You would Believe if you did not doubt. Therefore faith would be unnecessary.

Doubt: "I'll believe it when I see it."
Faith: "I'll see it when I believe it."

Dan Turner
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@ karen,I personally don't find faith in my make up or identity. I can be critical and discerning but don't feel that stopping energy of doubt to often.. sometimes of course it creeps in.. I can be fooled or made the fool all the same..
@ Dan" I'll see it when I believe it" can also be taken as" I see what I believe"..... doesn't sound much different than doubt...No?

Doubt is the necessary inherent mechanism so the mind can more easily adjust to failure. In mechanical terms it is the minds shock absorber.

What is life without it.........

That is a bit harsh RJ. For me Faith is the glue of my reality. Faith is the hope of love.

Of Love prevailing:)

Yes Tony it is a shock absorber as is all defensive mechanism .. do they really serve us? To some extent I'd say yes but I think we can become crippled by them ..
Karen, which part is harsh?
@ What's Her name, lol life with out doubt? could be pretty dangerous

My serious answer is, to have some doubt is healthy as it can be even self preserving sometimes. If one remains too naive and never doubts anything or anyone they can be easily harmed often....but if one is not trusting at all they can become too paranoid and hurt themselves in other ways. It is also helpful to take another look and second guess ourselves sometimes too, but too much of that can become crippling also. Balance is key in everything. Finding a happy medium doesn't mean one is never taken in and taken advantage of but with experience we learn....but we learn from trust as well. We have to learn to trust ourselves as well as others sometimes.

Thanks Phyllis , now we have; doubt, faith and trust on the table. thanks for one of things I was looking for..lol

"I personally don't find faith in my make up or identity."

Robert, I suspect you do. What do you call it when you're crossing the street and there's 3000 lbs of steel hurtling towards you and ALL that stands between you and it is a red light suspended on a wire above your head?

You certainly don't know that car is going to stop. You have faith that it will, but you don't know for a fact. You're only walking in front of a moving vehicle because your faith at that moment is stronger than your doubt.

Perhaps you have another term for it.

Dan Turner
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I don't believe you believe you don't have faith in your make up. Sounds like you have a shield up around the idea. We all have faith, but not always Faith.

Dan, I guess you could use the word faith for crossing the street but I was using faith in a spiritual sense, crossing the street is more a calculated risk ..
@Karen, I do believe I have luck or am charmed in some ways.. would you call that faith?

Haha! Well, thats what happens when you ask deep questions, RJ. The answers can go down all kinds of avenues.

Perhaps belief is the opposite of doubt, while faith is the fulcrum.

If you believe you are charmed you must have faith in that idea. Isn't faith what creates a reality?

"Doubt is a pain, too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother."
Khalil Gibran

No I think my charm is Bullshit, but I'm sticking with it..

"Dan, I guess you could use the word faith for crossing the street but I was using faith in a spiritual sense"

Exactly! Now, how are you using the word "doubt"?

Dan Turner
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I believe doubt was the foundation of Renee Descartes' philosophy

When I read your question about doubt Robert, faith didn't occur to me as it's opposite, as Karen pointed out, but confidence did. It may just be a matter of semantics.
I think those of us who have doubts about themselves, their goals, etc. can be lacking confidence. I don't know where confidence comes from, is it genetic or can it be cultivated but confidence in oneself is a very great thing to have. I admire people who have an abundance of it, I think sometimes it is all that seperates success from failure.

Ha ha, If the Bullshit works you must have faith it will ;))

Doubt = Cowardly Curousity

dan, I was proposing doubt as the topic open to all interpretations . faith came later in the debate and I was only talking about how i was using faith in the statement you quoted .. I think however that imo fear is the fertile soil for the seeds of doubt...

Mo, Perfect!

now we have:
doubt
faith
cowardly curiosity
confidence
defense
trust..

Is not to doubt the same as to question and to question leads to discovery?

Agreed. Fear of the unknown breeds doubt and fear can inhibit growth. Some of the downsides of too much of something which keeps one off balance. There is a healthy amount of fear to have but too much inhibits. Sometimes you just have to let doubt go and jump right in. In other words...look before you leap but then go for it.

Lack of informed knowledge.

That is not faith when one see "3000 lbs of truck hurtling at them ". A box floating in the air on a wire with the color red on it will never stop that force.

Belief
Balance

I would say I am confident but I think the universe is far too fickle for me to dwell on faith.. thunder here, I may have to run..

Doubt is the absense of faith, and faith is the absense of doubt.

I may come up with a better definition later, but I doubt it.

@Gene: you may be right BUT I doubt it....lol!
So to doubt the absence of faith is to have faith? thatz imposible if doubt is the absence of faith......

Now you're making me dizzy ..... ; (

Sorry Gene. your premise .....is a logical fallacy...Thatz not a critisim so PLEASE don't beat me up LOL!

RE: DOUBT

We all have at times...What we do about it is what matters:

Some notable quotes:

"When in doubt......."Don't".. (Ben Franklin)

............................".Do it"...(Oliver Wendell Holmes)

............................."Mumble"..(James H. Borem)

............................".Wear Red"..( Bill Blass)

............................" Go for the Dick Joke"..(Robin Williams)

And my favorite, ..A tenet , I follow:

When in doubt,......." Make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap"
..............................(Cynthia Heimel).
.

a unique debate with ourselves ...

when u doubt, thats fine at times... its being human.... when u doubt alot... its time to doubt your doubt!!! of course, thats easier said than done...

@Gene, I understand what you are saying. It seems logical to me :))

doubt what a wonderful subject

score:

fallacy 1
reason 1

Some people hear of "Doubting Thomas' and some doubt if there really was a Thomas.

If is strange that some folks believe every lie told by their favorite polition without a doubt.

If you have one friend that will never doubt you, you are rich beyond measure.

If you keep doubting a thing will happen, you will probably eventually be correct.

Never doubt what you know is right, even if someone else insists on using their own logic.


.................................These are from the writtings of Gershwin W. Smud

Gene mentioned the Doubting Thomas, a type we all have crossed paths with, when faced with a new idea or concept they respond with a "NO".. Then they will attack you personally rather than the subject, they also love to provoke you with sensitive topics to see where you stand on their personal issues, mostly negative ones, such as politics or prejudice...

faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love

I doubt it's love: it's charity!

Hmmmmmmmmmm:::::::::"they also love to provoke you with sensitive topics to see where you stand on their personal issues, mostly negative ones, such as politics or prejudice..." where have I heard this before??????? ... oh, yes............I doubt that my memory would be appreciated here..........the eternal 'they'........who is 'they'...

Hey Vivian! Join the us and them game....its soooooooooooo fun;)

Are you saying I like to provoke Vivian?...guilty...

Hehehe.....

Thanks for the invite....doubt I've got more to say, seeing as I doubt I like being provoked, lol, lol, NOT !

RJ - you do so love to play mind-games....and I love to play,too....but am slowly losing my mind now, so am incapable of being provoked due to lack of strong response to anything much these day.........all LIES !!!! hehehe......xV

11 a.m. here - gotta go to the Dentist.......cheers.

I think doubt means 'lack of faith in yourself.' But I could be wrong.

More chum anyone?

A sign that you are awake and still thinking.

Talking about "doubts":

Doubt is a safety net, a coping mechanism. It's easier to doubt than to take the leap and fail......to trust and be betrayed......to love and not have it returned........Doubt such as Self doubt.....squashes dreams, Kills relationships and is a crutch to the unwilling participants..... the fearful and the not so risk takers.

Doubt can be warranted, it can be supported by past experiences......... or it can just be fear....fear of the unknown. Doubt is a natural feeling and in many cases a cautionary tale ......... its how we use this inkling.....this gut feeling, how we listen to this instinct and our moments of doubt. Just like anything when used in moderation; when understood and not over indulged Doubt can be a good thing or it can be the end of us...... Self Doubt is the cancer of doubts......plain ol doubt depending on the situation can be wisdom or fear......the key is to not let the cancerous doubt win.

Oh yes I have met the eerie bastard we call doubt....but I am slowly learning the difference between wisdom and fear.

im not so sure but i remember a line in scent of a woman... al pacino said to his cat, "when in doubt, fu**." =)

me, i doubt everything. i even doubt my own faith. i doubt where i put my faith into. i question my own belief system. i question every ideas and every values that i inherited. if they say i shouldn't do this or that, oh i swear i do it all the more. i DOUBT, big time! its just me, i'm a doubter.

Um - what is 'chum' ? (oh,sorry,wrong thread - no poetry here,lol)....but, need to know...............am in doubt re the meaning...........

Doubt is when you are presented with something and you can piece it together nicely but then there seems a couple of pieces missing, and for the sake of you you can't even fill them in with imagination, without experience you have to make it up, from the experience that you do have, in the end you paint an image onto the blank pieces and try it out, could be.. you think, but you are in doubt, you need to feel the experience, to have lived it to be confident in putting together the whole picture, even if that picture is of you. That's the best way i can explain doubt.

Doubt is healthy. It makes us think for ourselves instead of blindly accepting what others tell us.

The shortest route to success is usually found through the ears. Doubt is youth. Doubt is inexperience. Doubt is the open mind with poor filters that gets clogged by dust. Doubt is knowledge without understanding. Doubt is the acceptance of failure without trying. Doubt is an obstacle built with assumptions. Moreover and most often, doubt is a social disease.

" Doubt is the acceptance of fear without trying ". Good one Robert , the lazy way out.
" Eerie bastard " . Lol. Sheena - now I have a name to put on the face of my doubt.


Viv - "chum" is the bait that you put out for the sharks.


Doubt is the clue that you either need more of knowledge - or a backbone.
A Key to the door of decisions. You either will, or you won't

cause of doubt....face of doubt:

Have a nice day :)

Dealing with our own doubt is bad enough, it gets particularly troubling when you are stuck dealing with others doubts. I find that even more crippling than my own...

Sometimes certainty can be more crippling than doubt, because it implies a confidence that may be unfounded and can lead to arrogance. Pride goes before a fall...

One of my favorite books is Doubt -A History.
You can listen to the NPR show and there is a self test thats more on the philosophy/
world view track:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1505065