Awareness vs Authority: Why Relying on Experts Limits Self-Understanding

Some years ago I bought a book of Albert Einstein’s commentary on elements of a good marriage and advice on how to maintain relationships – subjects that I was interested in learning more about. My thinking was that a man of such genius and Mr. Einstein would surely have more profound insights into the subject than most average persons. I thought that such a man must be an expert on every aspect of life.

Well, I can’t tell you how surprised and disappointed I was.

When reading the book I came across generalizations and conclusions so ridiculous that I didn’t want to keep the book around; I threw it out. Much later, I learned that Mr. Einstein had never had close relationships with either of his two wives.

I had fallen for the reputation associated with the name. I was looking for someone to tell me what a good relationship is. I was not aware of my deep rooted awe of authorities.

Talking with others about authority, as well as observing my own life, has taught me an interesting fact: While most of us dislike being dominated, we willingly and consistently bow to authority in our lives every day. Is it not easier to hide behind another’s authority instead of having to think for ourselves?

Taking Time for Reasonable Doubt

How often, for example, do we rely on psychological and spiritual auhorities to tell us how to live our lives? Isn’t someone with a Ph.D. in psychology more knowledgeable than I? Won’t someone in the clergy have a better handle on my problems than I have?

How do we know that they are able to solve their own interpersonal problems? We really don’t know that. We don’t know anything about an authority, except what they choose to tell us.

There is nothing wrong in listening to or reading what some authority has to say. The problem comes in when we then decide “this I will accept” and “this I will reject”.

What we have totally bypassed is the use of our own minds to doubt and question critically to see the truth for ourselves. When we accept or reject what another recommends without engaging our critical faculties, we have whittled down our mind’s capabilities.

Not long ago, I read an article comparing a healthy ego to a neurotic one. I found myself agreeing with what I’d read. Then I read later that a well-known authority – someone with whom I’ve agreed in the past – did not agree with the theory in this article. So I read that authority’s reasoning. When I reread the original article, I discovered that I was now reading it with the eyes of the authority and I no longer agreed as before.

It came as a shock to realize how easily my mind was influenced.

This experience has made me highly motivated to put away beliefs in all of the so-called authorities and to take responsibility for doing the work required to reach an understanding using my own faculties.

If necessary, I admit that I have insufficient understanding of the issue and leave it at that – without coming to any definite conclusion. This way the mind is always open to learning more, without the confict of wondering who is right and who is wrong.

What Undercuts Our Capabilities

The reason authority can hypnotize us so readily is that we have learned not to question things, at least not deeply.

It is so much easier to accept or reject. No need to inquire for myself why something is the way it is. No need to look at different ways of doing things. No need to ponder. Just accept, conform.

Why feel responsible if things don’t turn out as expected? I can just put the blame on the authority whose views I so blindly accepted.

I think we all recognize that there are times when we rely totally on the words of others, not fully knowing if the words are true, or quoting another authority, or they have fooled themselves into believing certain ideas. We do want to believe another’s promises that they have the answers that will improve our lives.

It is often our insecurity that finds it easy to conform and imitate those that appear confident on the surface.

Imitating gives us a false sense of security, but that security never lasts for very long. So, we search for another, better authority to show us how to live our lives.

Does this make it appear that we are afraid to think for ourselves?

Why is it that we do not want to doubt or question the beliefs we have picked up from authorities? In that resistance there certainly is some form of fear. And that fear is covered up by knowledge and beliefs that are clung to; until better ones are found.

It seems that many people don’t want to be bothered with questions that require any deep thinking. And without thinking deeply for ourselves, we depend more and more on outside authorities. We feel more and more insecure and doubt our own intelligence.

And this cycle needs to be observed and understood in our everyday lives, or it will just continue to impoverish us.

Can we see that authorities keep us slaves to another’s knowledge and conclusions?

What concerns me is the trend to find the answers to our daily problems, such as with relationships, from a talk show host, [social media influcencer] or a friendly bookstore attendant.

I think it is obvious that the more we rely on the gurus, the less confidence will we have in our own capabilities. And it is equally obvious that the more we find things out for ourselves, the more confidence we will have in ourselves.

Learning to Discover for Ourselves

How do we want to live the rest of our lives? Believing what others say is true or challenging, doubting their assertions.

Because one really does not know what is true until one has discovered it for oneself. Not something that one has discovered yesterday. An answer from the past may not be the one you need in the present.

Only the present contains the problem as it exists now. And no one is better positioned to delve into it as you are.

It seems to me that it is very necessary to be responsible for what we think and for all that we do. And how else is that possible, except by discovering for ourselves the inner workings of our minds. Why we seek authorities and what affect they have on our own capabilities.

Is it possible to be attentive to everything around you and inside you? Being attentive to the facts each moment, you may discover that you do not need outside authorities to help you to see what is going on in your own life.

Perhaps we can never honestly say, “I am completely free from authority forever.” But don’t you think freedom from it is possible in each moment that we are deeply aware?