Skepticism

What Is It, and What’s Its Polar Opposite?

Image by Fred Barnard — Uriah Heap, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4680299

There is a common misconception that the scientific method consists of forming a hypothesis to explain some observed phenomenon, then searching for evidence to support your guess. That’s not how the natural sciences work, and believing that it is can lead to confusing gullibility for skepticism.

Here’s the entire scientific method:

1 — We wonder about something, ask a question, or have a question brought to us.

2 — We research our question using authoritative sources to see what humanity already knows about our question.

Good scientists employ skepticism, not credulity, in forming and subsequently testing their hypotheses.

3 — Guided by our research, we formulate a hypothesis. First and foremost, we limit hypotheses to falsifiable ideas. Thinking about how we might disprove our postulate, we set about not to confirm it but to prove it wrong. That’s right; we search high and low for evidence or experiments demonstrating that our pet postulate is bunk. Why does that matter? We humans evolved to use confirmation bias to enable us to make fight-or-flight decisions before being eaten by predators that were faster and stronger than us. But confirmation bias is the mortal enemy of healthy skepticism. It can lead us to search for…