Why does the word “skeptic” have such a negative connotation? Most people’s first thoughts are miserable cynic when they hear me describe myself as such. I can see it in their faces. I’ve taking to saying that I’m a critical thinker instead. It means the same thing but doesn’t seem to get the same reaction. Until, of course, I explain what that means.
Then there’s the semantics. “Well that’s just your opinion and I have mine.” I get that a lot, is that true? Isn’t an opinion something objective and personal? People have opinions about what brand of peanut butter tastes better, or if it tastes good at all (ewww). People have opinions about which political party they favour. But what about facts? Can these be opinions too? It is a fact that psychic powers have never been proven to exist. It is a fact that homeopathy hasn’t been shown to work better than placebo. It is a fact that my eyes are brown. I state these facts. If someone refuses to accept these facts, do they then just become my opinion?
Another criticism I get is that it's rude to question and put down someone's beliefs. The word belief is defined in part as “confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.” However, except for most of religion, everything is susceptible to rigorous proof and therefore should not be considered a belief. It then comes down to fact or not. Yes, I’ll concede that no one knows everything for absolute certain and that there’s always a chance we’ll find things previously unknown and science is finding fabulous new things everyday. But the far-fetched claims have been rigorously studied and have the odds stacked against them. The evidence is so far lacking to be considered fact anytime soon.
It’s not like I go around shaking people and calling them stupid (although sometimes I want to). In fact, I rarely talk about skeptical stuff at all. Sometimes the topic of conversation just turns to woo and I feel that I must step in and try to share some of the research I’ve been doing and maybe convince someone to look into a claim more before accepting it. That is what critical thinking is all about. Most of the time the conversation remains civil but I still get the objections listed above.
Sigh, I sometimes wish I had a less controversial obsession, maybe I should take up flower arranging.
Then there’s the semantics. “Well that’s just your opinion and I have mine.” I get that a lot, is that true? Isn’t an opinion something objective and personal? People have opinions about what brand of peanut butter tastes better, or if it tastes good at all (ewww). People have opinions about which political party they favour. But what about facts? Can these be opinions too? It is a fact that psychic powers have never been proven to exist. It is a fact that homeopathy hasn’t been shown to work better than placebo. It is a fact that my eyes are brown. I state these facts. If someone refuses to accept these facts, do they then just become my opinion?
Another criticism I get is that it's rude to question and put down someone's beliefs. The word belief is defined in part as “confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.” However, except for most of religion, everything is susceptible to rigorous proof and therefore should not be considered a belief. It then comes down to fact or not. Yes, I’ll concede that no one knows everything for absolute certain and that there’s always a chance we’ll find things previously unknown and science is finding fabulous new things everyday. But the far-fetched claims have been rigorously studied and have the odds stacked against them. The evidence is so far lacking to be considered fact anytime soon.
It’s not like I go around shaking people and calling them stupid (although sometimes I want to). In fact, I rarely talk about skeptical stuff at all. Sometimes the topic of conversation just turns to woo and I feel that I must step in and try to share some of the research I’ve been doing and maybe convince someone to look into a claim more before accepting it. That is what critical thinking is all about. Most of the time the conversation remains civil but I still get the objections listed above.
Sigh, I sometimes wish I had a less controversial obsession, maybe I should take up flower arranging.
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