“I think, therefore I am.”

Now timeless, René Descartes’ conclusion was as revolutionary as his premise. He developed his claim by shedding all certainty, thus establishing that nothing save existence could be known for certain – the ultimate affirmation of doubt in a disquieted world.

His methodology was foundational to the development of the modern scientific method, and thus to the centuries of evolution and growth that followed. So significant was his discovery that nearly 400 years later, we still have a great deal to learn from Descartes.

Today, certainty still prevails over doubt. Rigid dogmatism, the poisonous outgrowth of certainty, is a methodology regularly on display. The Pew Research Center recently concluded that the United States is more deeply split between the Democratic and Republican parties than it has been in the last two decades. Blind certitude has led to the rebirth of measles, a disease considered eliminated 15 years ago. Across the world, senseless, seemingly interminable bloodshed from Iraq and Nigeria to Ukraine and Gaza – the result of intransigent, uncompromising madness – tears asunder the very notion of human progress.

In order to approach and one day end these conflicts, world leaders must navigate them with receptive, open minds. Obdurate thinking, as is cultivated by certainty, is deleterious to reasoned and open discourse and supports only further strife. Similarly, if we hope to lead lives and develop relationships that are successful, we must acknowledge and weigh opposing beliefs. When we are confronted by differing responses to the same questions, we must not so readily discount views that disagree with our own.

Embracing and understanding doubt should begin at an early age. However, schools often condition students to search for and accept defined answers. After all, there can only be one answer to an algebraic equation, to the concentrations in a chemical equilibrium. However, these situations belie the wider questions that remain unsolved in those disciplines. While in these math and science problems, there are often unambiguous answers, the study of these subjects at more advanced levels reveals conflicting theories and enduring discord.

Be aware of these discrepancies, and be ready to exercise doubt. In hard subjects, consider alternative approaches to solving the same problems. In the humanities, consider varying perspectives and their abstract and concrete validity. In history, do not be frightened by revisionist interpretations of the past; evaluate them and wonder whether or not existing explanations hold true in light of new evidence. Entertain diverse thought, for it drives creative impulses and prepares you for the ambiguous questions that you will surely encounter in your professional and personal life

Embrace Descartes’ approach. The scientific and analytical method that it underpins has paved the way for unimaginable advances that have altered our very perspectives on nature and life, and promises to answer what were once unanswerable questions. Should we apply a questioning and receptive attitude, and challenge our own fundamental assumptions, we may well find ones that are as unsound as the long-held belief that the sun orbits the Earth, or that time and space are absolute rather than relative.

Since our world remains as chaotic and uncertain as Descartes’, unyielding certainty can be an expression of arrogant folly. If we hope to build upon the science that Descartes’ theory has engendered, we must as a society — indeed, as a race — examine the roots of our beliefs in order to discover new pathways for progress. Only by rejecting mistaken beliefs and laying substantive foundations for sound ones can we come to reliable conclusions that not only prove our existence, but even advance it.