What is Skepticism?

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence.”
– Carl Sagan
It occurs to me that I should explain the foundation of what I plan to talk about before jumping in. Just what is this whole skepticism thing, anyway?
Skepticism (specifically scientific skepticism), which is not in any way to be confused with cynicism, is a principle by which claims are accepted based on
observable evidence. In learning critical thinking there are three key components:
1- The scientific method. Probably the greatest tool we have to discern fact from fiction. It is the system by which ideas are tested, the bad ones discarded and the
good ones reserved for further exploration. Note that last point; it’s very important. Science leads us in the right direction but it is a never-ending, always-evolving discipline. We don’t know everything. That’s why we still do science.
2- Logical fallacies. While the scientific method shows us how to learn new things
and test hypotheses, logic is how we think through the results and come to a conclusion. It’s essential to become familiar with the common ways in which arguments fail due to leaps or mistakes we may make in pondering our answers. In
exploring logical fallacies I recommend starting with some that I observe
to be the most common: causation does not imply correlation (my child was
diagnosed with autism after he was vaccinated, therefore the vaccine caused his autism), the appeal to ignorance (I can’t understand how creatures this complex could have evolved, therefore God must have created everything like it says in Genesis) or the Ad Hominem, Latin for “to the person” (he cheated on his wife, therefore he is a liar and anything he says must be untrue).
3- Ways the mind can be tricked. This is why so many professional magicians are skeptics. They understand how easy it is to fool the senses. But it extends far beyond stage magic. Optical illusions, waking dreams, the fallibility of memory, pareidolia, the power of suggestion, and so on. All of these things can contribute to a perception or memory that is incorrect or imagined.
So, what should we do? When it’s so easy to be wrong, what should we do? Think, question, doubt. If something seems incredible, implausible or too good to be true, do some basic research. I know I’m not the only one who’s opened my inbox and found
e-mail after e-mail that, if the sender had bothered to check, can be proven false in about a minute and a half on Google. How many times have you heard, “We only use ten percent of our brains,” or, “You need eight full glasses of water every day”? At some point these myths became a part of “common knowledge” and once there it’s very hard to shake them. But if everyone had the ability and desire to skeptically
evaluate the claims presented to them we would all become incrementally wiser.
It’s time to look beyond the smoke and mirrors and appreciate reality for what it is.