Skepticism

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Notable skeptics: fucksake...)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Skepticism''' is the noble of art of constantly questioning and doubting claims and assertions, and holding the accumulation of [[evidence]] as of fundamental importance. It forms part of the [[scientific method]], which requires relentless testing and reviewing of claimed facts and [[theory|theories]].
+
'''Skepticism''' (or '''scepticism''') is the noble of art of constantly questioning and doubting claims and assertions, and holding the accumulation of [[evidence]] as of fundamental importance. It forms part of the [[scientific method]], which requires relentless testing and reviewing of claimed facts and [[theory|theories]].
  
 
==Why skepticism==
 
==Why skepticism==

Revision as of 09:36, 12 October 2010

Skepticism (or scepticism) is the noble of art of constantly questioning and doubting claims and assertions, and holding the accumulation of evidence as of fundamental importance. It forms part of the scientific method, which requires relentless testing and reviewing of claimed facts and theories.

Contents

Why skepticism

Skepticism, at its heart, holds that in order to understand the universe, it is best to actually look at it and find out. This means challenging those who merely assert their beliefs about nature, and demanding that they show how they have derived their ideas. Theories and suggestions that produce evidence and are deemed logically coherent are kept, while those that fail this test are rejected - but, very importantly, nothing is ever held above this challenge. Regardless of how often an idea or theory passes the test of evidence, skepticism holds that there is always a possibility, however slight, that it might be wrong. As a result, skepticism is the true meaning of having an open mind.

The skeptical method provides numerous protections against cons and intentional malice by refusing to accept ideas until they have been demonstrated true. It is difficult to con someone who is skeptical about the situation because they will push for more evidence until they are convinced it is genuine. The ability for a skeptic to be convinced by evidence is also proportional to the claim being made, as said by Carl Sagan's famous soundbite "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". Someone claiming to have gone shopping earlier in the morning is subject to less intense scrutiny than someone claiming a dragon is living in their garage.

Opposition to skepticism

The nature of skepticism is that no-one's word can ever just be trusted and accepted without questions and without evidence. This can be a problem for people who don't like this because it is fundamentally distrustful, or the people who know that they cannot supply evidence to back up their claims. This leads to stereotypes of skeptics being humourless killjoys who hate people with "open minds" and want to spoil all of the harmless fun that can be had in believing comforting things for their own sake.

Skepticism makes ideas difficult to spread and as thus is the antithesis of authoritarianism. Someone attempting to solicit money, or control a population can do it far easier if the audience doesn't question their actions, methods, motives or reasoning. To turn a skeptic to ones ideas requires a lot of effort and evidence.

Notable skeptics

One of the less famous skeptics.

In 1999, Skeptical Inquirer magazine named their top ten and other notable skeptics of the 20th Century.[1]

  1. James Randi - a former stage illusionist turned skeptical speaker. Founded the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) and as part of his "act" often consumes an overdose of homeopathic sleeping pills to show they don't work.
  2. Martin Gardner - a mathematician that popularised mathematical tricks and games he called "recreational mathematics". Also wrote a great deal on the paranormal
  3. Carl Sagan - popular science presenter for the series Cosmos. Coined the phrase "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
  4. Paul Kurtz - called the "the father of secular humanism" by some in the skeptical community. Founded the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) among other things.
  5. Ray Hyman - member of CSICOP and has done a great deal of investigation into parapsychology and rationalist explainations for the claimed phenomena.
  6. Philip J. Klass - a major skpetic of UFO claims and general ufology. Like James Randi's famous prize, he offered $10,000 for anyone who could prove their claims about them. As of his death in 2005, it remained unclaimed.
  7. Isaac Asimov - science fiction author. Also known in the skeptical world for the concept of "wronger than wrong" and his essay The Relativity of Wrong about how knowledge and thinking work.
  8. Bertrand Russell - mathematician, pacifist, socialist and philosopher. Developed the teapot argument about the burden of proof.
  9. Harry Houdini - an illusionist and escape artist. He dedicated his later life to debunking what he called "humbug". Later inspired stage magicians Penn & Teller to do the same.
  10. Albert Einstein - scientist and all-round quote machine. Einstein is credited with redefining modern physics.

Others

  1. Richard Feynman
  2. Joe Nickell
  3. Karl Popper
  4. H.L. Mencken
  5. Richard Dawkins
  6. Stephen Jay Gould
  7. James Alcock
  8. Stephen Barrett
  9. Bart Bok
  10. Michael Shermer (Skeptic's Society)
  11. Kendrick Frazier
  12. Mark Twain
  13. Oscar Pfungst
  14. Robert. A. Baker
  15. John Stear

See also

Footnotes

  1. Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support