“There are two kinds of people in the world, the conscious dogmatists, and the unconscious dogmatists. I have always found myself that the unconscious dogmatists were by far the most dogmatic.”― G.K. Chesterton

During the past two days, I’ve studied dogmatism.

What I originally perceived as a simple word has grown to be complex and nuanced.

Studying dogmatism has led me to the works of G.K. Chesterton.

As implied by his above-stated quote, people that are consciously dogmatic are purposefully stating what they know and believe. This subsequently implies that they are aware of what they don’t know.

This contrasts with an individual who is unconsciously dogmatic and presumably makes a lot of broad sweeping statements.

This idea, to me, was the equivalent of striking gold.

It’s common knowledge that you can’t know everything. However, this truth doesn’t seem to stop the unconsciously dogmatic individuals, who take on a self-appointed sense of authority, resulting in a plethora of dogmatism.

The big take away here is that embracing conscious dogmatism will help you identify what you believe and eliminate excessive dogmatic statements that are unconsciously made.

To unconsciously be dogmatic is something I will consciously try to avoid.