Makes Sense - with Dr. JC Doornick - The Prison of Certainty - Why Curiosity is the New Superpower - E-180

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

This episode is the cornerstone of our new "Stay Curious" brand campaign. It addresses a profound human paradox: we claim to want growth and enlightenment, but we remain "Prisoners of Certainty." We’ll explore why our biology pushes us toward the "safety" of knowing, and why that "knowing" is actually a mental wall blocking us from our next breakthrough. We’re moving the conversation from "Try and try again" to "Stay open and see what else exists.   Follow Dr. JC Doornick and the Makes Sense Academy:► Makes Sense Substack - https://drjcdoornick.substack.com ► Instagram: / drjcdoornick ► Substack: / drjcdoornick ►Facebook:  / makessensepodcast ►YouTube:  / drjcdoornick     MAKES SENSE PODCAST Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. This podcast explores topics that expand human consciousness and enhance performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works, and that perception is subjective and an acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast. FOLLOW Podcast: You will find a "Follow" button in the top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=003780ca147c4aec Podcast Affiliates: Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where I get all these topics, which I've been covering for almost 15 years. I have learned to read nearly four times faster and retain information 10 times better with Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon OUR SPONSORS: Blue Blinds Bakery - Hand Crafted with all-natural ingredients - www.blueblindsbakery.com   0:00 - Teaser 0.28 - Intro 1:21 - The More Certain you are, the less room there is for growth. 2:53 - Great Morning 3:13 - The Most Dangerous Prison in the World 6:46 - The Scientist 8:26 - Disgruntled Listener 10:39 - Intellectual Humility 11:52 - The Evolutionary Trap 15:26 - How does certainty fit into the IRS? 18:21 - Curiosity Upgrades 18:55 - Exclamation Points vs. Question Marks 21:13 - The Power of Maybe 23:28 - Curiosity vs. Indecision   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So they call it being informed. So when we look at certainty, because we live in a society that kind of demands certainty, and we've been raised to be certain of things. Are you sure? So we call it being informed, being experienced, and being realistic. And those things sound sensible, but often it's none of those things. It's simply a mind that has stopped exploring. Makes sense.

Have you noticed that the world's that we live in has been doing most of the thinking for you, that your beliefs, perceptions, reactions, fears and doubts have been shaped by unsolicited outside noise? How easy it's been for you to slip into that default sleepwalking mode and label it as life and reality. Yeah, that ends here. Welcome to the Make Sense with Dr. J.C. podcast. This is your opportunity to start thinking for yourself, reclaim control, and step back into that role as the the shock caller and dominant force of your own reality. It's when you change the way that you look at things,

that the things that you look at begin to change. So let's wake up, let's rise up, and let's make sense of why and how shift happens. Hmm. Makes sense. Here's a statement that's going to make you go, hmm, the more certain you are about something, the less room that you have to grow.

0% none. Certainty and growth cannot coexist in the same room at the same time. Now remember, I haven't made up my mind about anything and I'm not telling you this with certainty. This is just my observation right now. So that would be if somebody says, that's bullshit and you want to create another distinction about it, I'm totally open to it. But what I'm saying now, my observation is that certainty and growth cannot coexist in the same room at the same time. Now, here's what your caveman brain doesn't want you to know. And when I say caveman brain, you know, I say that our programming and our conditioning comes from our MFTPSE, our mother, father, teacher, preacher, society and what we consume every day,

and evolution. That's what I mean by caveman brain, what we've been paid forward and shared from the days that we used to be afraid to go out of the cave. That feeling of being absolutely sure and certain, that's not actually wisdom. In fact, it's most probably a trap. So today, we're going to explore how intellectual humility and the simple act of staying curious could be the factor that unlocks the breakthrough, that certainty has been blocking for so long, for so many years.

And all it takes is just simply swapping one punctuation mark for another. So stick around. Great morning humans, great morning world. My name is Dr. J.C. Dornick, aka. The Dragon, and this is The Make Sense with Dr. J.C. podcast, where confusion dies and progress thrives. So welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to Make Sense with Dr. J.C. podcast. So let's talk about the most dangerous prison in the world. Whenever I say something, always just check and see what you think about first, because that's how you can identify your

prison or your conditioned mind. What do you think about first when I say prison? So there are prisons made of concrete and there are prisons made of steel. And then there are prisons made of certainty. Those are the hardest ones to escape from because the bars are invisible. How do you escape from a prison where the bars are invisible? You know, I had a guest on this show, Jason Duncan, and he talks about the golden cage of finances. Sometimes we'll get locked into this idea that what we're doing is going to make us money without even checking to see if we're happy. It's another version of it. And the challenge with that is you don't see the bars. And most people don't even realize that they're trapped, which is what the value of this podcast is, is sometimes we go, holy crap, I didn't know that I was trapped, right? So they call it

being informed. So when we look at certainty, because we live in a society that kind of demands certainty, and we've been raised to be certain of things. Are you sure? So we call it being informed, being experienced and being realistic. And those things sound sensible, but often it's none of those things. It's simply a mind that has stopped exploring. So here's the shift. We just said, and we're entertaining now,

that certainty is a mind that has stopped exploring, a mind that has stopped asking and stopped wondering, and the moment we stop wondering, we stop growing. Why? Because growth requires space. And if you're 100% certain, and I know that a lot of you are 100% certain of a lot of things, and I understand why. But if we're 100% certain about anything, there is literally 0% room for growth or the idea of anything better.

We cannot chase better when we're certain. Now, there's value and certainty. I'm not telling you to never be certain. I'm just giving you a different vantage point. So when we're certain, there's no room for new and for me. There's no new perspective welcome. When I'm certain of something and you come to me and talk about something that's different than what I'm certain of, my right protect switch is closed.

No room for rent. So no new information is welcome. No new perspectives are welcome. No new possibilities welcome. No extraneous unusual miracles are open. No breakthroughs are open. I already had my breakthrough. I'm certain.

No growth mindset. Just repetition. and repetition is where dreams quietly go to die. Now, these are controversial statements, but what it does and the value of it is it gets you to think. That's it. I'm not here to teach people things that they leave and say, this is what is right now.

I haven't made up my mind about anything, including what I'm telling you. I'm just giving you interesting observations so that you can get into the part of your brain that thinks about things. because as soon as we leave this conversation, we're going to go out there and have our thinking be done for us. And you should keep a lookout.

The easiest way to find out who's thinking for you is just evaluate what you're consuming every day. The people around you, your environment, your social media, the things that you do every day, those are having an impact on your belief system. So let's talk about the scientist in the room. I love the concept of looking at life, through the eyes of a scientist. Scientists are very unique individuals and I think it's a great idea

to move through life like a scientist. Let's look at it. So want to know who the smartest person in the room is? It's usually not the person talking. So right now it's not me. It's probably you guys, right? It's not usually the person talking. It's actually the person questioning. The smartest person in the room is not talking. They're asking questions. Think about it. The truth. The True scientist doesn't become emotionally attached to being right. You know, they present postulations and theories and concepts, and they're very proud of them because they put a lot of work and research into them, but they're not attached to being right.

In fact, somebody else brings something that is writer, right, and even more valid, you'll notice that the scientist is totally excited about that. They're attached to truth. They're not attached to their truth. They're not emotionally attached to being right. they become emotionally attached to the discovery of what is true. Imagine if you went through life and you detached from being right and you got attached to the discovery of what might be true. So that's a huge distinction.

Scientists don't celebrate being correct. They celebrate finding something bigger than what they previously believed. Now, I know a lot of you, you know, I've met a lot of you. You guys reach out and I welcome any. to reach out, I always answer, whether it's on substack or YouTube. I love when people, like, kind of attack me, especially people that I don't know. So this guy says to me, and you can go look in comments on some of my videos, I have no idea who he is because he's got like some sort of a handle name.

So he says to me, he goes, bro, look at you. You're in your 50s, wearing those glasses and trying to pretend like you're in your 30s. So my response, my knee-jerk response was, how dare you say that to me? You know, but then I said, hmm, interesting. And I thought about it for a while. And because I thought about it and I was in that space, remember, growth needs space. Right. Change needs space.

So I stepped into that space and I said, well, first of all, how does this guy even know? You know, he's looking at something and he's making an assumption. He doesn't know me. I don't know him. Maybe I do know him. Maybe he's right. Maybe he's right. Maybe I should re-look at my brand. So I said to him, I said, well, I want to thank you. I said, I don't know who you are, but I'm just going to go under the assumption that you might really know what you're talking about, because that might be too. I like to

say might. I like to say maybe. And I said, what I'm going to do is I'm going to explore the idea of not taking care of myself, you know, just to keep myself. looking young. I'm 54. I'm going to be 55. I'll consider taking these glasses off, but I kind of like them. But I just said, I'll consider it. And I said, but you have to make me a promise that once I've succeeded at looking older and not wearing these glasses, you have to promise that you'll tell me that I've succeeded at it. So we'll see what he says next. So isn't that fun? Imagine living your entire life like this that we're talking about. Imagine hoping that your current beliefs are incomplete. Imagine becoming excited when reality proves you wrong. Imagine if you could learn how

to get excited when reality proves you wrong rather than defend it and justify it and protect and only hang out with people that agree with you. Society and reality says, actually, J.C., you're wrong. Imagine if that excited you. You know what that's called? It's called intellectual humility. And intellectual humility may be one of the most important skills that we could develop over the next decade. It's attached to agility. It's attached to being open and curious. Just like when this guy was saying these things to me, I'm like, oh, maybe he's right. I mean, like, I don't know everything, right?

I'm just kind of going with what I think right now. I didn't know it was a bad thing to try to look young. Anyway, I welcome all comments. If somebody thinks that I look terrible, you're welcome to it. But that's intellectual humility. And it's one of the most important things we can develop over the next decade. Not because it makes us weaker to accept that defeat that we're wrong. It's because it makes us adaptable.

Because in a world that's changing so fast, and boy, isn't the world changing fast right now. And the things in my life are changing fast. It's like, boom, boom, boom, boom. The ability to update your beliefs may become more valuable than the beliefs themselves. Something bigger than your beliefs. leaves, the ability to update them. Let's talk about this evolutionary trap. So before you beat yourself up for being certain, it's not a bad thing to be certain, right? We have to understand something. Your brain was designed this way. You know, it's like we forgive you for you, no, not what you do. This is not

about looking at, oh, crap, I'm always certain. I always need to be right. I spent most of my life like that. It's not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing to take note of it because then you can change. We call that drifting and shifting. You cannot know that you're even drifting until you are down the shore and you see your towels up up up off the shore. So identifying that you're certain, don't beat yourself up. It's a great place to start. If you read my book, it was chapter 7 called Right versus Kind, where I first, thankfully,

from a mentor, found out that all I was ever trying to do was be right. So as you can see, I'm never attached to being right. I'm always open and curious. I stay curious. thousands of years ago, uncertainty was actually considered dangerous. The rustling bush might contain dinner or it might contain a tiger. So uncertainty, like, do I think that's dinner or am I dinner? Your ancestors survived because they made fast assumptions and safety required certainty.

What time should we leave the cave at night? So remember, MFTPSE, the evolution part of our programming and our conditioning is the paying forward of what our nervous systems learned back then. So certainty used to be very, very important and uncertainty was dangerous. But what kept us alive more than often keeps us stuck now. Isn't that strange? So back then, certainty would keep us alive, but now it's keeping us stuck. Our caveman brain is still associating certainty with safety. And, uncertainty with danger, right? Don't go do something into your uncertain. Look how many people are getting like all these certificates and learning and knowledge before they do anything and how we wait and

we wait and we wait and then find out it's called procrastination for everything to be right, all the planets to be in alignment. That's certainty. We think that certainty is a prerequisite to action. But what you learn, once you just get into action, is that certainty is something you develop like discipline along the way and motivation and belief you develop those along the way they're like muscles so what kept us alive often now keeps us stuck our caveman brain associated certainty with safety and uncertainty with danger and that's why we cling to our program concepts and opinions so if you're clinging to some sort of certainty that's why so you're forgiven for you know not what you do we defend our positions that's why we argue instead of inquire we

protect and why we double down instead of opening up. I'm going to double down on my certainty instead of taking the chance of opening up. Our nervous system would rather be wrong and comfortable than curious and uncertain. Make sense? Uncertainty for a lot of people, I've gotten used to it. I revel in uncertainty. I love not knowing because in that space there's so much potential. I used to be this person that like needed to be like chat GPT or Google. I needed to spit out answers and make it sound like I knew. I was trying to pose myself as like a knowing person, a knowledgeable person. But now I just find so much comfort and saying, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know much about that. I'll take a look at it. So let's talk about how this interprets into the interface response system and what I call the

hmm factor. Now remember, hmm is a sound, but it's spelled HMMM. M. This is. This is a big part of my book, makes sense, how to rewire your mind and transform your life. But hmm, stands for haven't made up my mind yet. So it's a wonderful, wonderful tool to do what? To create space. And what can we do in that space is entertain uncertainty. You can leave certainty here and grab it again. So this is exactly why the second phase, there's four phases of the interface response system, is so important.

And that's called the pause. by saying, hmm, what we're doing is, is we're pausing and we're not reacting. We're slowing down our certainty nervous system, our program certainty. We always jump to certainty. So we pause and we don't defend. We pause and we don't feel compelled to explain. What we do is we pause and ask questions. Remember what we said is the smartest person in the room is who?

The person asking the question. So that single word may be the most powerful intervention in human consciousness. Now, you can come up with your own words. I just like mine. Hmm. I like what it stands for. And it also lets the person know that you heard them. Because if you say nothing and you just pause, there's going to be this weird thing.

So I like to say, hmm, because it kind of says noted, not sure what I think about it yet. I'm going to go think about it. Now, most people don't like that. People don't want you to think about it. They just want you to agree with them. Am I right? That's what you get when you read the book. And remember, we have a mastermind every month with that.

So that single word can be the most powerful intervention in human consciousness. And why? Because, hmm, creates a gap. And that gap is between the stimulus of what's going on. And that could be you identifying your certainty. A gap between certainty and possibility. I guess that's a good way of saying it. and a gap between your current perception and your sense-making machine and a potentially better one.

Is there anybody here that wouldn't like to grab onto a potentially better perception? Is anybody against that? So every breakthrough in your life begins with a question, not an answer. Put that into your frontal cortex and think about that. Every breakthrough in your life begins with a question, not an answer. a question. So the interface response system, this four-step process, teaches us that perception creates reality. So I just said that we can create new perception, and our system is to develop perception. So it's a perception shifting system. And remember, Wayne Dyer used to say,

if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. So if you're looking to change things, what that statement is saying is that you must change the way you look at them, and that's your perception. So the IRS teaches us that perception creates reality, but curiosity upgrades perception. So how do we upgrade our perception? Curiosity. Entertaining alternative perspectives.

So the quality of our life is directly connected to the quality of the questions that we're willing to ask. So now we're going to talk about exclamation points versus question marks. This is really, really interesting. and this is an interesting tool that is really easy to apply. So most people walk through life with a big bag of exclamation points. They say things like, I know, exclamation point. No, that is wrong, exclamation point.

That's impossible, exclamation point. People never change, exclamation point. How about this one? That's just who I am, exclamation point. Exclamation points feel powerful because they carry certainty, but they shut down exploration. Sit with that. They feel powerful to make a statement that has a universal sign of certainty, meaning this, nothing else, but they shut down exploration. Now, we don't assess that. How could certainty shut down exploration? Well, if you're 100% certain

of something, that means there's nothing else, which is, in my opinion, and that's just an opinion, kind of silly, a little bit silly. Okay? So exclamation points feel powerful, but they shut down exploration. Now, question marks, on the other hand, which is just another punctuation, question marks, open exploration. So what if instead of saying, this won't work, you either change the words or just said, this won't work?

You could just put a question mark at the end. Or you could say, I wonder how this might work, question mark. Instead of saying, that's impossible. What if you said, that's impossible? Or what if we asked, what am I missing? Those are questions. Remember, the smartest person in the room, and it could be this room right here.

It's the one that asks questions. Instead of saying, I know exactly what's happening. What if you said, after a pause, you said, hmm, and you paused and said, what else could be true. My favorite question to ask is, J.C., what else might be true? Because I constantly build a story of the future. And that's the only time that I have stress and anxiety in my life. If I come back and unwrap the present moment, everything's great. Everything's great. Let's talk about the power of one of my favorite words, maybe. If you're the kind of person that will

allow the word maybe to come into your regular conversations, that's the way that's the way that's That's great, but a lot of people are not because a lot of people are attached to certainty. So one of the simplest ways to become more open-minded is to soften your language. That's all we're talking about is soften your language. For a lot of people and me at certain times in my life, that's very scary. So what we're going to entertain is replacing certainty with possibility. We're going to entertain the idea of saying things like maybe or perhaps it could be. might be possibly, why wouldn't we do that?

Because we're attached to certainty. So those words aren't weaknesses. They're actually full of wisdom, open and curious wisdom. Remember, what I'm entertaining is that this is one of the most powerful superpowers and power moves we can make this year is to be open and curious and agile and not know and see uncertainty as a potential power move. So those are full of wisdom, and the reason why is because reality is more complex than our certainty allows for. Reality is more complex than our certainty allows.

And cognitive dissonance, not cognitive distancing, cognitive dissonance becomes much easier to navigate when we stop demanding that every answer be final. Why does every answer need to be perceived as final? I challenge you to get rid of that and say maybe, might be, possibly, could be. Maybe your current challenge isn't happening to you. There's a maybe. Maybe it's preparing you. I've got a lot of challenges going on right now. And I am entertaining that they're preparing me for something for my next level,

for my next move. Maybe they're your teacher. Maybe your greatest setback isn't a setback at all. See what maybe can do? That's wisdom. Maybe that one word creates breathing room for transformation. Maybe. Breathing room for transformation.

So let's look at curiosity versus indecision. We're almost there. Now let's be clear. Curiosity is not the same thing as indecision. Curiosity does not mean that you never choose. And that's why a lot of people are afraid of it. They think it's indecision. it actually means that you're staying open while making your choice.

And that seems intelligent to stay open while you're making the choice. So that's why I say I haven't made up my mind yet about anything. I make decisions. I make choices. That's how I got to where I'm at. So we make decisions, but we don't worship them. And we have beliefs, but we don't become imprisoned by them. You remain coachable, adaptable, and responsive.

Curiosity is not the absence of conviction. Don't be afraid of it. Curiosity is not the absence of conviction. It's the willingness to update your conviction when better evidence appears. Curiosity is the willingness to update your conviction at a time when better evidence appears. Why wouldn't we do that? This gets screwed up in law sometimes, right? So that's critical thinking. That's maturity. And also that's called growth. So Mark Twain was right.

Everybody will remember the famous Mark Twain quote that's connected to all this. Mark Twain, one of my favorite quotes ever, he says, it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. What a smart thing to say. That's how I got into trouble is when I thought I knew things that just weren't so. Think about that and really, read that again and again and again. Most suffering is not caused by ignorance. Ignorance is not helpful, but it can be. So most suffering is not caused by ignorance. It's actually caused by certainty. And I know that's radical. That's certainty about ourselves, certainty about others, certainty about the future, and certainty about what something means. And we know the way that

the nervous system works and through neuroscience that we make most of what we see up. Because our sense-making machines don't have the ability to see the whole truth. It's beyond our capacity. So what we have to do is make up the remainder from our programming, our operating system. And often we don't see reality. We're simply defending a story. Isn't that true? So here's the good shift. What if your next breakthrough isn't hiding behind a big, strong effort? What if it's hiding behind openness and curiosity? What if the answer isn't trying hard, in this hustle culture. What if it's becoming more curious? Why wouldn't you try? Are you closed to better? What if it is becoming more curious? What if the smartest thing that you could do today is stop

defending your conclusions and start questioning them? And if you're not willing to question your conclusions about yourself, about society, why? Why are you not willing to question your certainty? and conclusions. And don't just give me your knee-jerk reflexive answer on that. Think about it. Get in your prefrontal cortex and start running the interface response system and recognize that somebody else told you to be that way. Society, mother, father, teacher, preacher, evolution.

Okay? And everything about prisons reminds us that all prisons have a door. All prisons. You've got to get into the prison. So there's always got to be a door out. and the door to the prison of certainty is shaped exactly like a question mark. So if you're ever trapped in a prison cell of certainty and you want to find the door, it's a question mark.

Isn't that cool? I love that. In closing, I invite you today to examine your life and ask some questions, which is a great start. Where have I become absolutely certain in my life? What belief have I stopped questioning? That's the certainty. What have I stopped questioning? What conclusion have I mistaken for the truth?

What conclusion have I mistaken for the truth? And where might a simple, hmm, create space for something better? So remember, growth lives in possibility. Wisdom lives in humility. And breakthroughs live just outside and beyond certainty. Stay curious, my friends. The future belongs to those willing to say, and ask one more question.

So maybe that's your goal today. It's just to ask one more question. Make sense? That's it for today. To support the Make Sense with Dr. J.C. podcast, be sure to subscribe, like, and share, as well as follow the Make Sense substack for free daily quotes, live streams, and blogs.

And remember, learning without action is just another form of distraction. If something hit home and you learn something today, give it away. That's the only way. it's going to stay. See you next time. Makes sense.