Dubito ergo sum

My first motto is “dubito ergo sum” (I doubt, therefore I am). Doubting leads to curiosity, leads to investigation, leads to insight, leads to more doubting. I like to be in a state of wonder, and questioning what’s going on around me helps me get to that state. Besides enjoying the process, it helps me become more aware of what makes me (and others) tick, and of what’s up with this wicked wicked world.

To challenge myself into more doubting, I focus on three main questions: what?, how? and why?, and four secondary questions: who?, when?, where?, how much?, and maybe more will follow along the way.

While writing in my blog, I constantly have what I call “the dubio formula” in the back of my head, asking: “wat is this?”, “how is it done?” and “why is it relevant?”. I’ve explained the ‘formula’ in my post “The dubio formula!“, but here is a short summary:

• WHAT? The what is about the choices that we make, the things we decide to (go and) do, and the plans that we have. All the choices that we make add up to a plan or a todo-list.
• HOW? The how is about the methods that we use to get things done. Whether we get the things done that we planned for (what), depends on our effectiveness and efficiency.
• WHY? The why is what we end up with, the results of the combination of our decisions and our actions, and the value of that result.

*René Descartes (1596 – 1650)