Reductio ad Absurdum: The ideology of doubt and the absurd

It is a difficult thing to become comfortable with doubt as a tool and way of life as a critical skeptic. The word has a negative connotation that is hard to shake.
And to be doubted, especially when we are sincere, is even more unpleasant. Voltaire said, "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." What he means is that it is easier to be certain, no matter how silly our certainty is, than it is to doubt and mistrust our own beliefs and those of others.
Yet, it remains incredibly important to continue to work through our experiences using doubt as the over arching system through which we sift those experiences, so that we may never be rendered and reduced to absurdity.

Reductio ad absurdum is the disproof of a
proposition by showing an absurdity
to which it leads when carried to
its logical conclusion.

'Absurdity' is a wonderful word, and it is one of the main tenets of the ideology of doubt. The process of the logical tool known as reductio ad absurdum or, 'reduction to absurdity' is the means by which we can come to doubt and disbelieve certain claims based on how silly or absurd they are. 
An example of this can be found in the previous blog post about mythology. It would have been impossible for Noah to have pairs of each species of beetle on his ark, because of how many species there are. Pointing this out, renders the rest of the literalist's claims completely moot. It's just not possible and it is absurd and ridiculous to even take it seriously.
Using the reduction to absurdity as a tool and remembering its place as a tenet in the ideology of doubt, we can often find the flaws in otherwise reasonable arguments as well. Often times it is not the literalist we deal with, because those arguments are easily reduced to absurdity. More likely, the claims that are more reasonable can sometimes get through. This is why, we lead with doubt, until evidence is provided that can bear up under the weight of the claim.
In a sense, Voltaire's point could be a very good mantra to use when we aren't sure or when we're tempted to believe a claim with no evidence. It is uncomfortable to disbelieve, but it is a willing abandonment of the critical faculties to believe something with complete certainty, which is just absurd.