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tergiversant
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
 Posted - 03/08/2002 : 12:36:17
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Hullo again all...
When we think of skeptics we tend to think of the sort of stuff mentioned in Kil's hilarious song:http://www.skepticfriends.org/kil_evangelical.asp or the stuff listed in the forum titles, e.g. religious dogmatism, UFOs, conspiracy theories, quackery, and so forth.
What I am wondering is whether there are any (broad or narrow) topics on which skeptics (as a whole) tend towards less rigorous skepticism. Areas in which we are ourselves blinded by our psycho-socio-political-economic background and culture so as to forget to question the underlying assumptions being put forth.
I think I can perhaps think of a few. If so, these might be fun to pursue sometime.
"Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
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Donnie B.
Skeptic Friend
417 Posts |
 Posted - 03/08/2002 : 13:08:14 [Permalink]
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Well, I'm pretty good at suspending disbelief in a movie theater or while reading a fictional book. I think a healthy skeptic can still enjoy things like The Lord of the Rings (see you on www.thetolkienforum.com, fellow fans!), which make absolutely no sense from a totally sober, scientific viewpoint.
The trick is understanding where the line should be drawn between fantasy and reality... right?
-- Donnie B.
Brian: "No, no! You have to think for yourselves!" Crowd: "Yes! We have to think for ourselves!" |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2002 : 13:09:05 [Permalink]
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You missed a couple of recent threads on "Homophobia". Skepticism was not welcome on this taboo subject.
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It will sometimes be necessary to use falsehood for the benefit of those who need such a mode of treatment.
----Eusebius of Nicomedia,
[i]The Preparation of the Gospel[/i] |
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tergiversant
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2002 : 13:16:16 [Permalink]
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[quote]
You missed a couple of recent threads on "Homophobia". Skepticism was not welcome on this taboo subject.
[/quote]
I'll check it out, thanks. Anything else?
I got the sense that any challenges to PC were somewhat unwelcome....
"Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2002 : 13:31:47 [Permalink]
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[quote]
[quote]
You missed a couple of recent threads on "Homophobia". Skepticism was not welcome on this taboo subject.
[/quote]
I'll check it out, thanks. Anything else?
I got the sense that any challenges to PC were somewhat unwelcome....
"Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
[/quote]
Yes, the whole conservative vs. liberal set of discussions.
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PhDreamer
SFN Regular
USA
925 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2002 : 14:11:35 [Permalink]
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I second Valiant's suggestion. Political ideology is quite an internalized and often deeply held opinion.
BTW, long time no see, Terg. Welcome back.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
-Niels Bohr
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Lars_H
SFN Regular
Germany
630 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2002 : 19:58:33 [Permalink]
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I don't know about evrerybody else, but I, while quite skeptic, am aware that I lack sufficient skepticism in some areas.
Satrting with the unfounded assumption that the universe exists outside my imagintion and going from there.
Besides the normal stuff one has to belive to properly function in society, I have also noted that lack skepticism in other more mundane areas.
I am less skeptic about news that support my personal belives. I have preconcived notions of how the Universe works and am slow to accept information that would require me to change my worldview. That is OK when it comes to clear scientific stuff, but becomes problematic when it includes less clearcut topics like politics.
I am prone to belive bad things about people I don't like easier then about people I respect. That is Ok for many situations, but when it is just actors or musicans I like or dislike it is less founded.
Sometimes it is just that I hear about something and think, 'wouldn't it be cool if this was true?'. At other times I just prefer an alternative because it is more 'aesthetical'.
I try to keep myself aware of my lack of skepticism where I can, but being fully logical would not be human I think.
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Omega
Skeptic Friend
Denmark
164 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2002 : 18:23:01 [Permalink]
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I don't think lacking scepticism when dealing with science as a whole is actually "not being sceptic". Sure, maybe the entire Universe is nothing but a thought in the mind of a paranormal gargagung from the Dimension ZrFrXt. But the universe seems to fit the established laws and theories.
Maybe it's the definition OF science. I don't give that much thought to that be honest. We're all products of our society. Some things seem so natural, we don't question them. Like family-structure. Mum, dad+2.1 kids. The core-family.
I recently came across the term "culturally accepted delusions" at www.skepdic.dom, when the owner, Robert Carrol, speculated on why some otherwise normal people, claim to be abducted by aliens. Mr. Carrol pointed out that in our society we accept certain delusions. People can function normally, but still claim the Earth was created by god(s).
Some people believe in Astrology. That ufos equal alien spacecrafts and so on and so forth. There is no proof of any of this, but we still accept that people may strongly believe in something that can't be prooved by science.
We don't really question why our society accept these delusions. We may debate our the validity of claims that planets may predict our future, or that god(s) are behind it all, but not why people believe in the things they do.
I think one of the above posters said it quite to the point. We may be biased to accept quite a few things in our daily lives without ever questioning them. Or being sceptic about them.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
-Albert Einstein |
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