Quotes About Skepticism

Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.

Skeptical scientists often point out, as Carl Sagan has, that the wonders of real science far surpass the supposed wonders of fringe science. I think it is possible to invert that idea, and to say that the wonders of real consciousness far surpass what conventional science admits can exist.

Sometimes I think everyone's an attorney.

I often hear skeptics say that, if psychic behavior was real, the psychics would be playing the stock markets or the ponies. In my experience, many of them do. There is, in fact, a kind of secret level of activity in which psychics consult to major corporations and businesses. People seem embarrassed to admit this activity but it takes place, just as you'd expect it to.

G.K. Chesterton said (in a somewhat different context), "If you believe in nothing, you'll believe in anything." That

I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.

Religion explains what man cannot explain. But when I see something before my eyes, and my religion hastens to assure me that I am mistaken, that I do not see it at all . . . No, I may no longer be a Quaker, after all.

But now reporters came to the story with the lead fixed in their minds; they saw their job as proving what they already knew. They didn't want information so much as evidence of villainy. In this mode, they were openly skeptical of your point of view, since they assumed you were just being evasive. They proceeded from a presumption of universal guilt, in an atmosphere of muted hostility and suspicion.

Los seres humanos acumulan información errónea, así que es difícil saber a quién creerle. Entiendo cómo te sientes.

Look boy' Wyatt said. 'I know you're from back east, but nobody's that stupid

Danish statistician, Bjorn Lomborg, who wrote a book called The Skeptical Environmentalist.

Es un hecho —afirmó Sarah—. Los seres humanos acumulan información errónea, así que es difícil saber a quién creer.

Personally, I would never help mankind.

Like a bearded nut in robes on the sidewalk proclaiming the end of the world is near, the media is just doing what makes it feel good, not reporting hard facts. We need to start seeing the media as a bearded nut on the sidewalk, shouting out false fears. It's not sensible to listen to it.

Pero la ausencia de pruebas no es prueba de ausencia.

Durante toda tu vida oirás hablar a la gente, y la mayoría de las veces, probablemente el noventa y cinco por ciento de las veces, lo que la gente te diga será falso.

I have to keep reminding myself that almost everybody is always lying.

You might very well think that - I couldn't possibly comment.

Think for yourself along rational lines. Hypothesize, test against the evidence, never accept that a question has been answered as well as it ever will be.

Daryl Morey] suggested a new definition of the nerd: a person who knows his mind well enough to mistrust it

a new definition of the nerd: a person who knows his own mind well enough to mistrust it.

He had a diffidence about him—an understanding of how hard it is to know anything for sure. The closest he came to certainty was in his approach to making decisions. He never simply went with his first thought. He suggested a new definition of the nerd: a person who knows his own mind well enough to mistrust it.

They do not share the sentiment about one another: the hardest thing to do in Greece is to get one Greek to compliment another behind his back. No success of any kind is regarded without suspicion. Everyone is pretty sure everyone is cheating on his taxes, or bribing politicians, or taking bribes, or lying about the value of his real estate. And this total absence of faith in one another is self-reinforcing. The epidemic of lying and cheating

don't be an ape! Think for yourself along rational lines. Hypothesize, test against the evidence, never accept that a question has been answered as well as it ever will be.