What Skepticism Isn't

A woman came up to me and said,
"I'd like to poison your mind,
With wrong ideas that appeal to you,
Though I am not unkind."
  - - - They Might Be Giants, "Whistling in the Dark"

I have recently written a post advocating what I would call skepticism.  In my view, skepticism comprises some fairly basic value judgments, some fundamental skills, and a process or approach to all testable claims.  Skepticism is a necessary component for navigating the minefield of delusion, deception and cognitive dissonance we all must pass through, whether we are scientists or not.  A necessary component yes, but we are learning the hard way it is not sufficient - we also need a set of emotional tools to stay calm, be kind, and to keep from getting lost.  I would like to address how we recognize skepticism and tell it apart from its imitators.

Doubt is a Core Value

It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress and great value of a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress that is the the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom, to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed, and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations.

- - - Richard Feynman

Here is how things go wrong: beliefs hold the believer. The believer acts, thinks and perceives the world through his beliefs and in order to support them, and is cognitively and morally blinded and enslaved; unable to inquire outside a narrow, nonthreatening sphere, and willing to use any means whatever to propagate the One Truth.  Then belief exists for it's own sake, and it can escape all moral restraints, with terrible consequences that are only too well known.The problem is not so much the belief systems themselves, but with the banishment of the one great value: doubt.