True Sceptic, or Noisy Idiot?

blogging

More and more sceptical websites seems to be appearing all over the internet. This in itself is a good thing, but how many of them are truly sceptical?

It is easy to take on a topic that is black and white, right or wrong. One must be willing to question public opinion and do a lot of research, but in the end, there usually is an absolute answer.

The biggest challenge lies in grey areas: there where there seems to be no absolute right or wrong answer and even if there is, it is rather hard to prove. This is the true test of character.

The reason for raising this issue is that most people, when faced with an uncertain challenge, fall back to personal beliefs and convictions. I have seen many of these websites, filled with fallacies and mockery. Sometimes it is fine to use mockery with an abundance of evidence, but still, since mockery is an attack of the person rather than an attack of the argument, it is something of which most scientifically minded people should never make themselves guilty.

To all those people who like hearing the sound of their own voice: just because your opinion differs from that of the public does not suddenly make you sceptics. I think it is best that I do not provide links to any of these pages.

As an example I will point to Brian Dunning, from skeptoid.com, who did a podcast with the topic Who kills more, religion or atheism. Most people would rather choose to avoid this topic, and those who do talk about it usually do so out of anger for the other side. I must say that his opinion is the best answer I have ever heard on this topic. Listen to (or read) it, and make up your own mind.

I am not against scepticism, sometimes I just get frustrated…