Skepticism and critical thinking

Skepticism is a philosophical approach that emphasizes the importance of questioning beliefs, ideas, and claims before accepting them as true. It involves maintaining a critical attitude toward information, evidence, and arguments, rather than simply accepting them at face value. Skepticism encourages individuals to demand evidence and to scrutinize the reasoning behind assertions, with the goal of distinguishing between reliable knowledge and unfounded beliefs or falsehoods. This approach fosters intellectual humility and encourages a healthy skepticism toward authority, tradition, and popular opinion, promoting a more thoughtful and evidence-based understanding of the world.

Critical thinking is a cognitive skillset and mindset that enables individuals to analyze, evaluate, and interpret information in a logical and rational manner. It involves actively engaging with ideas and evidence, considering different perspectives, and applying reasoning to assess the validity and reliability of arguments and conclusions. Critical thinkers are adept at identifying logical fallacies, biases, and inconsistencies, and they strive to make well-informed judgments based on evidence and sound reasoning. By cultivating critical thinking skills, individuals are better equipped to navigate complex issues, make informed decisions, and participate constructively in discussions and debates.

Comments

Judging others

We humans seem to delight in judging one another, usually unfavorably, usually compared to some unrealistic ideal or standard. At the same time, when we're judged, we're quick to remind those judging that no one is perfect, That we're "only human". I do believe that there are times when it's absolutely appropriate to judge another person, but we need to be realistic about the grounds on which we're judging. It is asinine to judge anyone based on factors over which they had no control. I feel safe in saying that no one in history has ever been able to determine before birth: Their nationality Their gender Their skin color Their appearance Their preferences Their degree of able-bodyness To judge anyone on factors that they were born with is bigoted, racist, sexist, and irrational. No one should be judged on how nature made them. It is fair and reasonable, however, to judge others on their character, what they've made of the themselves with the tools

Words matter, or how you and I enable racism

Racism, and its frequent corollary white supremacy, have been hot topics with me since high school in 1972. I belonged to a barbershop quartet (kids, ask your grandparents) that performed all over San Diego. My hometown wasn't exactly liberal, but it was a Navy town so people from everywhere were mixed together in neighborhoods and schools. Our quartet was asked to perform at a local Mormon church. After the performance, we were offered lunch. We all started to sit together when I was told that our bass, a wonderful black guy, would have to sit at another table. "Mixing" wasn't allowed. The four of us got up and walked out. My mom was very progressive, and so I grew up knowing racism was wrong. But after high school, I became a fervent anti-racist. I spoke out, I protested, I even used my radio show in college, an all-jazz station, to raise the topic with our primarily black audience. It took me quite a few years to realize that morality and humanity weren't the

Happy Accidents

It seems obvious to me that life exists on Earth due to a combination of factors for which there is no reason to think have ever occurred anywhere else. Sure, we’ve found the building blocks of life in asteroids. But on a different planet with a different environment, they might fail to find all the factors they need. I know people cite probabilities in an effort to make the idea that life on Earth can’t simply be a one-off. But it can. We have no evidence that contradicts the possibility. And if that’s the case, life only exists here, our living is a happy accident, so what? Does that affect our being alive at this moment? Not really. No purpose, no meaning, that doesn’t rob us of the ability to provide our own meaning and purpose to our lives.

Reverend Jeber

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