A Proof of Self-Proof; 8 of 15

          The Miracle of Self-Doubt

          Self-doubt questions itself, yet it is true, if all is well. It doubts its own good sense, but if logic is valid then it is honest though dubious. It speaks of a marvel and a wonder, namely itself, and it’s best to wonder at such talk.

          Don’t believe self-doubt! For the belief in self-doubt is not self-doubt but self-refutation. What a shame!

          So self-doubt is truly dubious. Doubt self-doubt!

          But maybe it is true anyway. If anything is possible, then so is self-doubt.

        The Failure of Self-Shame

          Self-shame proclaims its own wrongness. If logic is valid, then it is wrong, but you can never be sure. Shame accuses itself, and who are we to contradict it? But also, who are we to believe it? It’s best to doubt it.

          To accuse self-shame is to participate in self-shame, but to permit self-shame is to neutralize it; for the admission that self-shame is possible is not self-shame, but self-doubt. What a wonder!

          Self-shame is irrefutable in spite of itself. Therefore let there be self-shame! Shamelessly let self-shame exist! Admit its possibility to dispel it!

          The Fall of Self-Pride

          Self-pride boasts of the great big mathematical model that it possesses. But it is wrong! It claims that it will never be refuted; thus it is refuted. Self-pride is an illusion.

          All fantasies proclaim their existence; and they are indeed constructible – on paper. In theory they’re practical, in practice they’re theoretical. Self-pride is just such a fantasy. Self-pride cannot be wrong; that is its fatal error.

          Gödel’s Second Incompleteness Theorem describes a catastrophe of truly cosmic proportions; for it destabilizes self-stability itself. Self-questioning exists, as do self-validation and self-accusation, but self-creation does not. Absolute existence does not exist.

          Alas! Self-pride governs markets, churches, states and empires! Entire civilizations have sold out for self-pride’s false promises of absolute existence! Self-pride boasts of its safety, its sanity, its security, its infallibility, its invulnerability, and its immortality! But it is wrong!

          The Vanity of Self-Faith

          Self-trust proclaims its implicit confidence in itself. Self-trust believes in self-trust; and it is right!

          Why? Not because of what it says, but because of what it doesn’t say, for in fact self-trust says nothing at all. It is deductively empty. If you believe self-trust, then you believe self-trust, and that’s all. Self-trust is tautological, i.e. information-free; it proves nothing that was not already provable.

          Self-trust is a vanity. It is without content; that’s why it’s true. Self-trust can fly because it takes itself lightly. It operates by the Law of Levity: bubbles rise.