Questioning ≠ Doubt

Socrates once said:

“I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others.”

An interesting short piece by Ron Pereira explains why the Socratic method can be so valuable to ourselves and others.

“Finally, I think it is important we question ourselves. When we feel like we have come to a conclusion we should ask, “How can it be better?” or “What am I missing?”

“If the true spirit of kaizen is to never stop improving I conclude we should never stop asking questions of ourselves and others.”

We can question ourselves without doubting ourselves. Doubt stems from and feeds into weakness.

Questioning ourselves for the purpose of learning how we can improve is the opposite of doubt. It shows a will to grow and overcome current or future shortcomings. Questioning is healthy, while doubt is destructive. We discover our true vision by questioning everything around us.