On Speculation

Since diverse information floods us all day long, we reach a point where we don’t know what to think about it all; hence, we doubt it. And in doubt, we don’t abstain but speculate. Therefore, we live in an era of speculation.

According to many dictionaries, speculation is guessing answers to a question without having enough information to be sure about something.

In my research through the history of this word, I found that “speculators” were an advanced force of the Roman army who spied on the movements and quantity of enemy troops located well ahead of the Romans and also in the terrain that lay ahead, the risks of ambushes, or other details vital to the military venture. One or two “speculators” would then return to their generals and release the information obtained so the Roman legionaries would act accordingly.

Nowadays, we have satellites to do that. Do you think we have advanced?

Yet, nowadays, the term speculator also has a more economic connotation, like speculating in the stock market or speculating in politics. Anyhow, nothing is certain. Everything is but a guess.

And so, while in Roman times, the need to know moved the action of speculators, nowadays, what moves us is doubt. Indeed, we doubt everything in such a way that nowadays, it seems that nothing we hear or read is true until we reach a point when people say, “I believe in nothing.” And yet, because doubt upsets us, we must fill the vacuum. Therefore, we give our best guess to everything. Henceforward, we speculate.

Uncertainty has taken our hearts and minds, and I wonder, at what point in our society have we stopped knowing and begun guessing, and if we are constantly betting on our lives, on our future? 

What are your thoughts on speculation? Do you doubt most of what you hear or read? Have you reached the point of “believing in nothing,” as some people say?

Thank you. In the meantime, I will speculate on what your answer would be.