This recommendation ventures into a little personal philosophy.
Follow along, as I do believe – strongly – that the concepts here apply
to the internet and how we use it, nowadays more than ever.
I am a skeptic.
For many people, that implies that I believe nothing (not so),
believe in nothing (also wrong), and that I somehow take
delight in pointing out the flawed thinking of others (wrong
again).
I view healthy skepticism as simply understanding the difference
between belief and knowledge, not promoting belief
as knowledge and understanding that knowledge is backed by
independently verifiable facts. Ultimately, skepticism is about
discovering what is true.
The Skeptic web site is a great source of information for
those wanting to understand and gain better tools to help cut trough so
much of the misinformation in the world, and on the internet.
And that’s why I’m bringing it to you.
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Totally agree with you Leo. A skeptic is not someone who does not hold beliefs, but someone who does not hold unexamined beliefs. A skeptic believes space in his head and heart have value, and he’s not going to let ideas take up that valuable space until they’ve passed his screening process.
You’re absolutely right about this, Leo. I’m a Catholic priest, and I have strong religious beliefs. I am also a skeptic. Many friends know they had better check Snopes.com before they forward emails to me, as I will check them, and I will Reply All with the appropriate link, if necessary.
There’s a very interesting book which have things like this: “To want to believe is not to care continuing being ignorant” “To want to know means to exert yourself to overcome ignorance” “Doubt incites to research and research is the way to the right knowledge” “If you want a real faith, doubt!”. It seems it’s written for skeptics. http://www.zenithpublishing.co.nz/zenithpubl/showtitle.php?title=9000063
It may be useful for your readers if you offered a definition & distinction between skeptic & cynic. Many skeptics “devolve” or slip into a sense of cynicism about many, perhaps too many, aspects of life & the world around them. A skeptic may observe that 90% of everything is probably false or not useful or both, & acts upon the 10%. A cynic KNOWS that 100% of everything is drek, false or useless & devised by a diabolical trickster to fool people. Also, a couple of my favorite skeptical websites are Snopes.com & Media Matters. Thanks.