True vs Psuedo Skepticism

Posted by Paul Reynolds on Nov 17, 2023 in Blog, Inspired Readings, Western Insight | Comments Off on True vs Psuedo Skepticism

Thoughts on true skepticism versus pseudo-skepticism:

True skepticism does not carry an undertone of anger, ridicule, and
derision. It is even-tempered, clear-minded, and full of equanimity,
satisfied with showing what’s illogical or incorrect in the argument it
critiques.

A true skeptic does not use emotionally charged language in an effort to
portray the person whose argument he’s critiquing as a stupid fool.

A true skeptic has no attachment to proving that she is smarter than and
superior to the person whose argument she is critiquing, but rather is
content to have her argument win the day purely on the strength of its
elegant reasoning.

A true skeptic is willing to consider the possibility that there is some
merit, however small, in the argument of the person he’s critiquing. He is
not afraid that acknowledging this merit will undermine the absolute truth
he purports to possess.

A true skeptic is not consumed with the certainty that she is always right.
In other words, she resists the temptation to become a fundamentalist.

A true skeptic has a respect for the fact that many questions don’t have
final answers. She recognizes how much about the world is mysterious.

A true skeptic is skeptical of his own skepticism.

A true skeptic is as likely to be a woman as a man. (97 percent of the
pseudo-skeptics are men.)

A true skeptic shows humility, in the spirit that Carl Sagan demonstrated
when he said this: “An atheist is someone who is certain that God does
not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of
God. I know of no such compelling evidence.

“Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to
ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the
universe than we do now to be sure that no God exists.

“To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the
nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a
subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little
confidence indeed.

“A wide range of intermediate positions seems admissible.

“Considering the enormous emotional energies with which the subject is
invested, a questing, courageous, and open mind is, I think, the essential
tool for narrowing the range of our collective ignorance on the subject of
the existence of God.”

— Robert Breszny

Posted by | Paul Reynolds

“Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system…..” - Rumi

For over 30 years Paul Reynolds has collected and shared inspiration from a wide variety of sources. Embracing the philosophy that at the core of all these expressions is the reminder that we are loved and supported every moment. This unending stream of inspiration, imagination and wisdom is posted via his weekly ‘Living the Question Blog’, which has become ‘home’ for those discoveries. If you would like to receive the readings and share them with those you feel will benefit, please fill out the ‘Subscribe’ form to the right and Paul’s selections will come to your email every Friday.