From an old newspaper (well over a hundred years old) came this little
illustration of what a skeptic is:
"I don't believe in anything I can't see," said the young man
who aims to be considered a skeptic.
The middle aged man with overalls on looked at him pensively
for a moment and then inquired:
"Young feller, did you ever ketch hold of a 'lectric wire?" -
Washington Star.
A number of years ago I had almost that same conversation with young man on
my job. I asked if he had ever had the displeasure of smelling a foul flatus.
Now the truth is, I like good old-fashioned skepticism. I think of myself
as skeptical. But I like to be an open-minded skeptic, always willing to expand
my understanding of things if more information comes to light.
Contrary to the young men I mentioned above, skepticism in not to be
equated with simple closed-mindedness. The annals of history are large with
masters of knowledge who were proved wrong in their dogmatic understanding of
the nature of things. (The Experts Speak, by Christopher Cerf &
Victor Navasky, in one collection of these examples, and is highly recommended
by me.)
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