Why are we so skeptical?

[thed]

Originally posted by Aribella

Maybe I am a skeptic of sorts... Just like most of you!

I strongly suspect you are, at heart. Come into the light, embrace the truth.

There wasn't anything alleged about my UFO experience. I don't know what I saw. It was an "unidentified flying object".

That fulfills the definition of a UFO. So yes, you saw one.

I don't know who was flying it, I don't know what type it was, nor do I know where it came from... I am just trying to rationalize what it was in order to comprehend my experince. I can't say it was a Flying Saucer, it could have been something totally explainable.

You see, that is the skeptic breaking through. The difference between 'Skeptics' and 'True Believers' is that you would have claimed this was definite proof of an ET spacecraft. Anyone disagreeing would be a NASA disinfo agent.

Without the facts...it would be stupid of me to say otherwise!

It is not a case of stupity. It is only stupid if the only conclusion you came to was that, whatever you saw, it had to be an Alien spacecraft. I.E. Only one conclusion is allowed, that is stupid.

I would rather remain silent to the details...You wouldn't believe me anyhow...

I will believe whatever you say. That is, I will accept it is an accurate recounting of whatever it is you saw. Can we agree to disagree on the interpretations of what you saw.

{MIB}
FLASH

It was the image of Venus seen through a temperature inversion layer caused by swamp gas. So you where in a desert, what of it.
{/MIB}

 

[James R]

Aribella,

James,

<i>Yes, it's true! We do need to be a little cautious to have the ability to sort out the truth. But, lets be honest...some people go way over board on the skepticism, don't you think?</i>

What would "going way overboard" entail, in your opinion? If you mean merely dismissing things out of hand, that is not skepticism - it is closed-minded denial. Skepticism means looking at all possible explanations and not accepting things without good evidence.

<i>You don't really believe everyone will be of the same mind about every issue, do you? Like I said, "always"</i>

I was trying to make the point that at some point in the future, for example, we might be visited by aliens. After that, a person would be stupid to deny it had happened, given clear evidence to the contrary. Therefore, we cannot say that there will always be people who don't believe in aliens. There may come a time when everybody who is not a nutter believes in aliens.

So far, though, there is no evidence for aliens visiting Earth.

<i>But, who knows if we could use all of our brains capability, maybe even that would be possible.</i>

We already do use all of our brains' capacity. What makes you think we don't? It would be a big waste of resources if we don't, wouldn't it? Why feed a brain which isn't doing its job?

<i>I just try and keep my mind open to the possibility that everything we question in life has to have an answer. I pride myself in being a seeker of the truth...</i>

Up to this point, you're speaking exactly like a skeptic. Then you say:

<i>... and try to avoid being a skeptic because it hinders your ability to reason.</i>

How does it hinder your ability? I would argue that it <b>helps</b> you to discard crap.

 

[fadingCaptain]

It is funny how some people think a skeptic = close-minded. What a ridiculus concept! Somebody that requires a reason (evidence/logic) to believe something is close-minded? No a skeptic is simply not gullible.

Of course, all the people that put their faith into concepts that do not require evidence or logic would want you to believe otherwise. Hence, the reason so many people have a skewed view of what a skeptic is.

 

[Captain Planet]

You are right,

even though anyone can now read the best 'no-physical-facts" proof
that aliens exist (see the link below), most will say 'this is bullshit' since the author did not bring any 'physical evidence'. Read it for yourself. I'm sure you will 'get it' unlike the 'automatic skeptics' or the 'society-controlled-minds' or the 'my-friends-will-think-I'm-weird' groups (which is most people).

As the opening preface says:

"they have ears, but don't hear; they have eyes, but don't see"

www.thiaoouba.com/ebook.htm

 

[MRC_Hans]

If for any reason you feel uneasy to reveal your email address - you are not yet ready to read this book.

Hans

 

[Thor]

I think, nay, know that we are all skeptical about something. I'd look at someone strangly if they told me that the grass suddenly changed colour overnight from Green to Purple.

We are skeptical about things that are not normal or are new to us as people.

If we were too open minded, wouldn't that make us gullible.

Skeptism (if thats how you spell it) is what shapes our everyday lifes. Think about when you have to make a decision.

I don't think people who have 'had' UFO experiences are crackpots, they're just 'special'

 

[MRC_Hans]

I don't think people who have 'had' UFO experiences are crackpots, they're just 'special'

IMHO, they're not even special. They are quite ordinary people. It is a property of the human mind to interpret anything we observe in terms of our existing experience. This is normally a very useful ability, but from time to time it fools us; we observe something that doesnt fit into anything we've experienced before, and our mind crams it in with the best fit.

UFO's are by now a well established part of most people's "experience", that is we've heard about them and we have a number of notions about how they're supposed to look. So, when people see something in the sky that they cannot recognise, their mind chooses the best fit and shows them a UFO. This happens even to trained observers.

Of course there are crackpots and hoaxers, but most UFO observations are made by honest, ordinary people who genuinely believe they saw what they claim they saw.

But whenever it is possible to investigate a case, it almost always turns out that there is some mundane explanation.

Hans