(October 11, 2021 at 10:11 am)Spongebob Wrote: Skepticism is not a bad thing; it's a healthy part of the scientific method and forces scientists to do the hard work.
Exactly. Skepticism is part of the scientific method. No new claim should be believed without evidence (and the evidence should be higher if the claim contradicts current theory).
Why? Any claim must be testable for it to be scientific. Skepticism requires that the claimant do the testing and present the evidence. To do otherwise is inefficient for getting to truth, as there are an infinite number of possible claims, and only one reality. If everyone accepted all claims at face value, and had to do their own testing, everyone would have to test a potential infinite number of claims.
Claims without evidence should be dismissed for pragmatic reasons. Claims with evidence should be verified. In some cases, there may be claims that do not yet have evidence, but seem appealing, and scientists do run out and test other people's hypotheses. In those cases, there is often a theoretical reason to investigate, or perhaps there is just curiosity.
What skepticism ISN'T, is disbelieving something in spite of evidence, for emotional or dogmatic reasons. The skeptic must always be willing to critically look at evidence -- and that is a learned skill. Those without critical thinking skills may think they are being skeptics, but are incapable of determining conspiracy thinking from real evidence.
