There is a strange comfort in being certain.
Once you know what something means, you can stop looking at it.
The answer closes the door.
Sometimes that is useful.
Sometimes the door needed closing.
But sometimes the answer is wrong.
And that can be difficult.
We do not usually enjoy discovering that we were wrong.
Our minds have a remarkable ability to defend yesterday’s certainty.
We find another explanation.
We move the goalposts.
We remember the evidence differently.
We discover that everyone else is an idiot.
Convenient.
Perhaps one of the most useful spells a person can learn is much simpler:
I might be wrong.
Not:
I know nothing.
Not:
Nothing is true.
Just:
I might be wrong.
That small sentence leaves a window open.
Someone can tell you something you didn’t know.
Reality can contradict your expectations.
Your own memory can surprise you.
You can discover that the person you misunderstood was not who you thought.
You can discover that you were.
Both are possible.
Humility is sometimes mistaken for weakness.
It isn’t.
It takes strength to let an idea lose without letting yourself lose with it.
You are not your theory.
You are not your opinion.
You are not required to defend every thought you have ever had simply because you once had it.
Thoughts are tools.
Tools can be replaced.
Maps can be redrawn.
Spells can be retired.
This does not mean truth is whatever you want it to be.
Quite the opposite.
If truth were whatever we wanted, there would be no reason to be humble about it.
Reality gets a vote.
Remember?
You can believe the bridge is there.
Then you walk forward.
The bridge either holds or it doesn’t.
The world is wonderfully indifferent to your confidence.
This is not cruel.
It is liberating.
You don’t have to be right about everything.
You only have to remain capable of learning.
And perhaps this is why uncertainty can be a kind of freedom.
If you admit you don’t know, you no longer have to protect the answer.
You can look again.
You can ask another question.
You can change your mind.
You can discover something better.
Fancy Dust is extremely confident that it knows where sparkles come from.
It has refused to provide evidence.
We remain skeptical.
This is healthy.
There are mysteries worth keeping mysterious.
Not because they are forbidden.
Because we have not earned an answer yet.
So perhaps the Mage carries two things.
A lantern for what can be seen.
And an empty hand for what cannot.
The lantern says:
Look.
The empty hand says:
I don’t know.
Both are useful.
And sometimes the second one is what lets you keep walking.
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