do you think that’s air you’re breathing?

In Graham Greene’s novel, The Heart of the Matter, one of the main themes is that you can never really know another person. We can guess at who they are. We can judge them by their behavior or the words they speak, but unless we are them, we can’t know them exactly as they are down to their tiniest of thoughts.

I would argue that those who have not taken up the implied challenge in Socrates’ famous edict: ‘The unexamined life is not worth living,’ probably don’t even know themselves all that well either. Those who have not taken up the challenge have not done the necessary self-inquiry to challenge who they think that they are, especially when you consider where our beliefs about the world and about ourselves come from.

How many of your core beliefs have you challenged through unassumed reasoning? As Morpheus asked Neo: “Do you think that’s air you’re breathing?” How do you know? How do you know anything about yourself if you don’t challenge the assumptions and beliefs you use to guide your life?

So here’s me laying down the gauntlet to you today:

Pick one of your core beliefs or assumptions about yourself and examine it. Who did you inherit the belief from? How do you know it’s true? Is it still a valid assumption or belief? Does it help or hinder you?