Saturday, February 5, 2011

Skepticism

I’m a skeptic. I don’t believe in ghosts, aliens, bigfoot, ESP, angels, God—none of that. I think skepticism is one of the most important forces working to improve our society. But don’t get trapped in thinking that being a skeptic is defined by immediately giving up all beliefs that involve the unseeable or unknowable; skepticism simply implies a questioning nature, one that isn’t naïve or gullible.

When we question things around us, it allows us to think freely and critically about our surroundings. If something doesn’t work or imposes some sort of harm, we’ll be able to more aptly identify and correct. Science is constantly moving forward in technological and biological advances because researchers are constantly questioning the work that came before them. If we simply accepted everything that was presented to us, we would remain forever stagnant and ignorant as a society.

I think it’s detrimental to accept anything on the surface. This could be as small as a “free” offer—that you impugn by an assertion that nothing is truly free—or as large as analyzing governmental progress and working to make an effort to change things. As a citizen, I think it’s our responsibility to think about things as much as possible, even if they seem flawless or unquestionable.

Question everything. It’s the only way anything gets improved.

19 comments:

  1. "Always Question" is a rule of thumb I follow myself. I've found a couple good loopholes here and there.

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  2. I always thought scepticism meant to keep an open mind. You'd only not believe in things if they have been proven to be fake. I am however in the same boat as you. I find it very hard to believe in most of the mumbo jumbo paranormal stuff most people purport to be fact!

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  3. Yes. People should always think about what is presented or given to them. By everyone.

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  4. Excellent post. Skepticism is definitely a necessity in society. As much as I would like to believe in aliens and such I do my best to scrutinize any "evidence" and assume it's fake before believing it.

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  5. I don’t believe in bigfoot, ESP, angels or God, but god damnit! I believe in ghosts and aliens.

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  6. I kinda believe in time traveleres, espers, aliens and such. Ok not really on a serious note, if it hasn't been proven then why should I believe it?

    This is probably why I'm agnostic, I wish something out there exists but nothing has been proven.

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  7. I'm a skeptic myself but I've had my run with too many things I can't explain to ignore it,

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  8. I find it hilarious that one of the ads I saw on this page was for love spells.

    Skepticism is good, just so long as you don't go out of your way to cut down other people's beliefs.

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  9. They made a movie about that called The Matrix. You should definitely check it out.

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  10. good note to question everything sometimes we just take things as is

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  11. Extremely informative post!

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  12. "If the Emperor appears naked, he is naked."

    One of my favorite quotes about thinking for yourself and not agreeing with the majority just because its the majority that says something is a certain way.

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  13. I'm skeptical of your definition of skepticism.

    That being said, skepticism is important in preventing or mitigating groupthink and bad cases of bandwagon situations.

    While you may call your stabs feeble, I find them quite interesting. Keep up the good work!

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  14. I don't believe in a soul. This has saved me many hours on thoughts about spiritualism.

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