A sceptic’s guide to scepticism
Scepticism — A person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions [OED]
Via Latin, from the Greek skeptikos, from skepsis meaning ‘inquiry, doubt’. The philosophical movement of Scepticism saw believers never asserting truth. For me, scepticism now means never accepting truth.
Quick disclaimer if the title wasn’t clear enough: I’ve always been a sceptic. I’ve always questioned truths put in front of me — in education, at work, at home.
Scepticism is not the most attractive of traits. The constant questioning, the assumption of subjectivity. Being a disbeliever can seem personal. It isn’t though. It’s just how a sceptical mind works.
In fact, by definition it isn’t personal. Scepticism is not synonymous with cynicism. Put simply, whilst they both involve questioning and inquiry, cynicism is much more focussed on the person behind the truth, and their motivations. Cynics make it personal, sceptics only care for the assertion and its validity.
A true cynic distrusts everything new they see or hear, they’re intolerant to new ideas, and they’re pessimistic about everything. They’re not sceptics. That’s a positive trait. They’re the downers of the group whose self-righteousness tends to bring everyone else down, too.
Of course, that doesn’t make scepticism any less of a downer.
But it’s got huge value as a mindset. The majority of modern science, for example, is based around both a sceptical methodology and outlook on how we understand the world around us. Atheism sprung out of the sceptical movement in Ancient Greece.
In every day life, it can add value too. I work in a crazily fast-paced environment with a group of the most intelligent and ambitious people I’ve ever met. But building a company with them throws up daily hurdles that experiential knowledge cannot solve. So we draw on a priori knowledge — discussion about the best route over said hurdle. And it’s at that point, in those discussions, that scepticism proves its use.
Scepticism leads you to constantly question what others say and what you think. It doesn’t allow truths to go untested. It demands evidence or reason. But once it has tested a truth and found it to be sound, it allows you to be emphatic in its defence. It gets your decision making stronger.
It doesn’t mean sceptics are always right, and they certainly shouldn’t always be listened to. They shouldn’t be in the majority; you need more proposers of ideas than questioners. Sceptics do sometimes cross the line to cynicism and make it personal. They are far from perfect.
But if you can, find yourself a sceptic. They’ll ground you, they’ll question you and your ideas will be better for it.
If you’re a fellow sceptic, or in need of a sceptic’s view then give me a shout on Twitter.
