This is a book about engrained ideas and patterns of thought that need to be examined. Many thinkers, such as Socrates, Zhuangzi, Descartes, Thoreau, Kierkegaard, and Paine support this endeavor. Questioning and doubting are lifelong processes. The essays hopefully serve as catalysts, mental mosquito bites to start us scratching. Yet this is not a book of answers or truths. Nor are any of the essays intended to explore these subjects in depth. Whatever alternatives I offer should also be questioned. What is supported today may be rejected tomorrow. In fact, some of these assumptions the reader may have already doubted or discarded. The key point is to start a habit of examining the line of thought underlying assumptions, even those we've considered. The more we examine assumptions, the more we will realize their value or their defects.