Comments on: The Perils of Skepticism (There Isn’t Any)

By: lovelyyoungman

lovelyyoungman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:11:28 +0000

Carl Sagan on the pale blue dot picture:

Look again at that dot. That’s here, that’s home, that’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

As a skeptic, that’s where I get my sense of wonder from. From a scientist.

By: Gyanama

Gyanama — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:24:26 +0000

In reply to Adam.

So what you are saying is that skeptics are skeptical until they see the proof-

Well then, proof will come when it will come, only you won’t see it as a skeptic, nor will you be able to show evidence of the proof you have realized-

You can’t see the unseen laws of life in an apple seed, but you know they are there, when you plant the seed, and you are not at all skeptical that the seed will grow even though there is no evidence of the apple yet-

It’s OK if you live a skeptical reality—–The proofs you need will come when they come—-

Love,
Gyanama

By: Hamish

Hamish — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:32:14 +0000

“fixed beliefs” Not willing to change, not worth respect.

By: Chris Rummenie

Chris Rummenie — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:15:46 +0000

Many skeptics contribute to science. What had woo contributed?

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:41:32 +0000

Isn’t every scientist a skeptic? After all, the major revolutions of science have resulted from people being skeptical of the status quo. Our greatest acclaim is given to scientists who have refuted the claims of previous scientists (or woo-woo Emperors, as the case may be).

By: Jerome

Jerome — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:29:30 +0000

Great post. Next time someone asks me what a straw-man fallacy is, I’m going to send them a link to this article.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:05:03 +0000

If you believe skeptics trust in nothing then you are wrong. Skeptics believe in anything backed up by real evidence.

If skeptics are given such a hard time by everyone else for simply trying to live in reality, what does it say about everyone else?

By: Jeff Arnold

Jeff Arnold — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:54 +0000

Skeptics don’t hold up signs that say “You’re Wrong” to every passerby. We hold up signs that say “Prove It!”. Even Einstein(who would be rolling in his grave to have his name trumpeted as an anti-skepticism ideal) was a skeptic, being one of the major critics of quantum mechanics in its original formalism. And like most skeptics, his view changed over time as more evidence became available.

A sense of awe and wonder comes not from inventing some explanation for a natural phenomena, but from the realization of how much we still have left to learn about the world around us. But that learning is a process which involves doubting and questioning until the truth is uncovered. THIS is what skepticism is.

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:02:47 +0000

Have you heard of Carl Sagan?

By: Gyanama

Gyanama — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:45:44 +0000

Good article..

The only real and lasting cure to skepticism is self realization…

I see it now….
Everyman will know his true identity, and skepticism will disappear as the “Real man” awakens to himself in Spirit. as it is divinely destined and ordained- in fact deep down at the core of every man’s center of being, he already knows who he really is….

Consciousness/Spirit is man’s true identity..and so it is….

Love,
Gyanama