How to be a skeptic

I know a guy who’s a bit of a jokester. He often comes out with wild, unbelievable statements but does it in such a deadpan serious kind of way that most people’s response is, “really? Wow, I never knew that!” Then when his face breaks into a grin, you realise that you’ve just been had!


credit: mangpages

By now I’m pretty used to his crazy sense of humour, so I’m always on guard when he’s coming out with the next “unbelievable” statement. Time after time after time though, I see him fooling people into believing what he’s saying.

Why does this happen? Maybe it’s partly because his delivery seems so genuine. Maybe it has more to do with the nature of people, that we often tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. Which leads me to an amazing revelation I made some years ago. You don’t have to agree with me, but here it is:

  • People aren’t always right!

When you’re involved in a conversation with my afore mentioned friend, the consequence of being “had” is at worst your pride cops a hit and you might have to cope with a bit of chuckling from your mates.

The real problem is that similar misleading statements are made all the time by people who aren’t joking. Just about every day I hear opinions from many different people who would love me to believe what they believe on every topic under the sun. Politics, religion, money, success, education, health: people passionately declare what they believe to be truths. These declarations are sometimes correct, but frequently aren’t.

  • “Churches are all corrupt”
  • “The internet is saturated, no one makes money anymore”
  • “That guy from The Wonder Years is really Marilyn Manson”
  • “Chewing gum takes seven years to go through your body!”

Or sometimes the statements sound more plausible:

  • “Don’t go out in the rain or you’ll catch a cold”
  • “You need a degree to do well in life”
  • “All Fluoride is bad for you”

It’s particularly annoying when people make wild statements as if they are experts in the field. Mostly when I hear statements that sound particularly unrealistic I just smile and nod, or say something like “that’s interesting!” Then I’ll go and research things a little more & come to my own conclusions, or at least try to hear from someone who is a credible source.


credit: monkeyleader

 
Snopes has been a long term friend of mine: if you’ve had an email account for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve also received those ridiculous scaremongering emails about robbers in car parks using perfume, or snakes lurking in ball pits. You’d be amazed how many people forward these on without doing any checking for themselves.

It’s one thing to be had as a joke, it’s another thing to alter your life based on other people’s opinions. Having a healthy skepticism is a good way to approach life, for a number of reasons:

  1. Blindly believing other people is being ignorant
  2. Listening to other people can limit you and your achievements
  3. You see in life what you’re looking for

Stay razor sharp! Listen to other people, but don’t forget about your own beliefs, your own opinions, your goals. Don’t be limited in what you can achieve because you’re listening too hard to what somebody else thinks. Thoughts?