Are You a Skeptic?

Kekich Credo #96 - Skepticism is a key to rational thinking. Be especially skeptical of your own cherished beliefs. You might be wrong… and things change.

Skepticism is an attitude of questioning, disbelief, or doubt toward a particular object or idea. A skeptical person doesn’t believe something is true unless they see evidence. Skeptics are doubters and they need to see proof before they will believe.  Show them the evidence if you want to convince a skeptic.

Skepticism isn’t necessarily bad.  It helps you develop an attitude of doubt that makes you question what is going on.  Healthy skepticism is when you are questioning things to discover a truth that will help you arrive at a logical decision. 

There are two types of skepticism, negative and positive.  By removing bad ideas, negative skepticism allows good ideas to flourish. Positive skepticism does more than remove false claims. 

People with the skeptical personality trait don't take things at face value.  They tend to look for the story behind an idea to find out what is really going on.  They ask a lot of questions and follow up on any answers that they don’t understand.  Instead of just believing in something because we hear or see it, being skeptical encourages us to pursue 

knowledge and to do some critical thinking.

The words skeptic and skepticism come from an ancient Greek verb that means to inquire.  So a skeptic is an inquirer.  Skepticism at its best is not a matter of denial, but of seeking, questioning, inquiring doubt.  

Here are some examples of skepticism.  

• The teacher was skeptical when Tommy told her the dog ate his homework.

• He was skeptical when the sales pitch seemed too good to be true.

• Voters were skeptical after the politician said he would not raise taxes.

• Mom was skeptical when the ad on television said the cleaner would take out all stains.

This credo statement says skepticism is the key to rational thinking.  Ask questions before making a decision. 

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