Handout 4

Believing & Knowing

 

 

Epistemology:

I know, it's a big, technical-sounding word, but its meaning is not all that difficult to understand. Episteme is from the Greek meaning "to Know." The ology bit is also Greek and it means "the study of." So epistemology simply means the study of what it means "to know." Impress your friends; they'll think you're a genius using such words. For our purposes we'll just think of it as trying to understand what it means when we say we "know" something is the case as opposed to simply believing it is so.

The truth is, we "know" very little when we put our "beliefs" under the microscope. Most of what we think we know is based upon other's beliefs and claims. We believe the earth is round because we've had many scientist and others tell us it is, but few of us have ever gone out to navigate the earth so as to prove to ourselves that it is indeed round. Many claims are like this, and we accept them because their veracity has been tested by so many who've come before us. It simply wouldn't (flat earth society aside) make sense to claim the earth was flat in this day and age, yet once upon a time that was true belief. A flat earth was an accepted fact to humans only a few short centuries ago. Can you begin to see the difference between "knowing" something is true and just believing it is so without proof or scientific evidence? Now why is this discussion important, you may ask. Well read on and let's find out.


I believe I'm a good person, but what is that "belief" of mine based on? Well, I compare myself to others and decide whether I fit more into the good category of humanity than in the bad (whatever that may be). I try to help folks by doing this website, by running two support lists, by teaching and working in a [LINK] critical thinking forum, by being a good mom, friend and spouse etc. So I think I'm a good person, not always, but most of the time. And, more or less, most of the folks who know me think the same, so I do have some evidence that I am probably a pretty good old gal :)  Ok, so what has all this to do with what you believe or think is true. What does it say about what it means to "know" something for you personally? Well, suppose I told you that I believe in unicorns; would you think I'd gone completely around-the-bend crazy? You KNOW there are no such things as unicorns right? Or do you? Have you ever seen one? Probably not, and you will rightly tell me that neither has anyone else in their right mind and so from that evidence you conclude there are no such animals, but what if I tell you that unicorns and god are in the same boat in terms of what we KNOW? You've never seen a god, never known anyone sane who has seen one, never spoken to one, yet most people DO believe there are such things as a God, god, goddesses, and gods. The truth is, many BELIEVE those things, but can NEVER KNOW them for a fact like we can KNOW that the earth is round. So it comes down to evidence for one's belief and whether it is verifiable, repeatable, and testable. Can we verify that unicorns exist? Can we run experiments to decide that question's answer? Can we even hope to test our hypothesis about unicorns? The answer is a unilateral "NO," we can't. The same can be said about beliefs in gods and goddesses etc. Some folks will believe as they wish despite all evidence to the contrary, but let's bring this down to a personal level and determine how what we "believe" and what we "know" impacts we bipolar folks on a daily level.

 

Believing:

I said earlier that I "believed" I was a good person and that because many other folks close to me seem to think the same so I must be right in thinking that. But sometimes when my bipolar-thinking kicks into gear I don't feel like a good person. In fact, I feel pretty worthless at those, fortunately, infrequent moments.


So how do I convince my bipolar self that its thinking is totally out of whack? I ask myself what does the evidence indicate. I list the good things I do, the opinions of others who care for me, and any other relevant facts I can think of that support that belief. I stop long enough to note that the inner tape I am playing may be utterly misinformed and delusional. I THEN STOP for a nice long hard "think" about where my belief at the moment and the reality of things really lies…and then I go on to fight the next battle.

You see, we bipolar folks are very good at running inner tapes about how lousy we are, but we sometimes refuse to accept that what seems to be evidence of our badness is totally or mostly lacking. The reasons why we believe even temporarily in such fictions has to do with this illness.

To live a better life you will need to start right now to question the evidence for every false statement your mind dredges up and throws your way. This most often will be required when depression has a hold of you, but it works when you're feeling a bit hypomanic or early mania too. Here are some of the statements I most often hear from bipolars when they are clearly listening to their inner tapes and letting that tape run uninterrupted by evidence to the contrary.

    1. I'm so screwed up
    2. I'm worthless because…
    3. I'm a bad parent because…
    4. I'm unlovable because…
    5. I'm too sex-driven
    6. I'm unable to keep a job
    7. I'm too fat or skinny, short or tall
    8. I'm stupid
    9. I'm easily confused
    10. I'm too needy
    11. I'm over possessive or jealous
    12. I'm misunderstood
    13. I'm never going to be happy ever
    14. I'm always going to feel like this.
    15. I'm better off dead, suicide is the only answer.
    16. They are better off without me
    17. I always hurt others
    18. Life is always so dull and numbing
    19. Hurting myself is the only way to feel better about myself
    20. I'll always be a nothing.


There are some of the negative tapes we pick off our emotional shelf and play to our poor numb minds endlessly. Self-destructive tapes we accept as known truths and solid beliefs without counting up the evidence for or against those pseudo-truths. I'm asking you to demand your mind give you hard evidence that any of these things are really known facts. Question them, list the ways they might NOT be true. Add them up and try running the tape complete with the evidence to the contrary. Negative tapes lose their power when the light of reason is show upon them. Show your reason and argue with those negative,, nasty one-track-mind tapes. You may be believing any one of them, but you don't KNOW they are true. They are your personal, non-fuzzy unicorns…a myth as surely as is the unicorn. Fight them with reason and not by additional messed up emotionalising. Look for the real cloaked deftly in mere, unverified belief. If you can't offer evidence against them by yourself then talk about them with someone who can offer their opinion on whether the negative things you are hearing about yourself have any basis as known, true facts…or are they merely poorly documented beliefs?

I bet you never thought a fancy word like 'epistemology' could ever have such a practical application to this disorder, but trust me it can and I will offer myself as evidence for that claim. I'm no different than you except I've learned to question the truth of every statement I hear including the negative ones I say to myself. You can learn to do this as well. Just tell yourself that there's a time-out think period needed after every single negative thing you say to yourself and be sure that if you don't believe it you find someone else who can offer their opinion about just how right or wrong you are about that belief.

 

Knowing:

How much can we say we know? Not much at first blush, but if you walk outside and look around to see rain falling all around you and you're getting wet then you are pretty safe in saying that you KNOW it is raining. Keep in mind as you look over your library of negative tapes that knowing is a very difficult thing to achieve; it has a high price in terms of evidence needed to accept it. For example, do you know that suicide is the only answer to your situation or do you just believe it? That'' a pretty scary thing to say to yourself so be sure you have all the evidence you need to say it is something you know to be the case. What is the evidence for such an awful conclusion? Is it based on fact? Is it one thing or many that makes suicide seem an only out, an only, self-evident conclusion? Think very hard about the evidence for thinking suicide is the answer because you will find it doesn't come to that generally. Your lies to yourself and your negative inner tapes want you to accept the truth that they are unwilling to defend. You must argue with the voice that says harm yourself by making it give you all of the evidence as to why you ought to commit such a final act. Please learn to argue hard with yourself…it may be the last words you ever hear if you don't.