Quotes About Skepticism

Historical argument alone cannot force anyone to believe that Jesus was raised from teh dead, but historical argument is remarkably good at clearing away the undergrowth behind which skepticism of various sorts have long been hiding.

I'm an atheist. I wouldn't even call myself an agnostic. I am an atheist.

Oh yeah, that's the one who kept watching me as if she was waiting for me to grow fangs and try to eat her. I couldn't help it—I used my claws to scratch my nose. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

I would be a socialist if I thought it would work.

When scientists ask whether they should blog, they are sometimes paralyzed: "Will I be wasting my time? Narcissistically navel-gazing? What might people say?" It is probably healthy to consider these questions when your reputation is on the line. On the other hand, the safest route is rarely a useful path for anyone who wants to make a difference. When it comes to blogging, researchers should balance skepticism with a clear-eyed assessment of the power and possibilities.

I could trust a fact but always cross-examined an assertion

As we are ready to give ear and credit to those we love, he believed all she said. From this time he became distant and reserved towards me, shunning my presence as much as possible; whereas, before, he was open and communicative to me as to his sister… What I had dreaded, I now perceived had come to pass. This was the loss of his favor and good opinion; to preserve which I had studied to gain his confidence by a ready compliance with his wishes.

Putting out crackers and cheese is reasonable when visitors show up with wine, but not when they arrive with cyanide.

People are not relativistic when it comes to matters of science, engineering, and technology; rather, they are relativistic and pluralistic in matters of religion and ethics." 37 In short, they apply their postmodern skepticism selectively

Ä°nsanlar?n iyi niyetleri suistimal ediliyor." "Kim taraf?ndan?" "Biz tabii ki!Hasta insanlar?n buraya gelip o aptalca hikayelere inanmalar?na izin veriyoruz ve iÅŸleri onlar için daha kötü hale getiriyoruz." "?nsanlar?n okuduklar? ÅŸeylere inanmalr?n?engelleyen bir yasa henüz yok ,Abby." "Fakat doland?rmay? engelleyen var.

Why I Raise My Children without God." Instantly it went viral. The author, a young mother named Deborah Mitchell, listed several reasons why she shielded her children from learning about God—most of them variations on the problem of evil. Mitchell argued that a loving God would not allow "murders, child abuse, wars, brutal beatings, torture and millions of heinous acts to be committed throughout the history of mankind." 1

It's not just an easy one-liner. The state can't seem to keep the roads paved; you think we should trust them with life-and-death decisions?

Overcoming skeptics is still a skill that innovators need.

The events we live through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm. And sometimes, they're people you say they love you.

The events we live through taught me to be sure of nother about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm. And sometimes, they're people you say they love you.

in moments of crisis, people are willing to hand over a great deal of power to anyone who claims to have a magic cure—whether the crisis is a financial meltdown or, as the Bush administration would later show, a terrorist attack.

C. P. Snow once argued that foolish faith in authority is the enemy of truth.

Doubt is crucial to science in the version we call curiosity or healthy scepticism, it drives science forward – but it also makes science vulnerable to misrepresentation, because it is easy to take uncertainties out of context and create the impression that everything is unresolved. This was the tobacco industry's key insight: that you could use normal scientific uncertainty to undermine the status of actual scientific knowledge.

The network of right-wing foundations, the corporations that fund them, and the journalists who echo their claims have created a tremendous problem for American science. A recent academic study found that of the fifty-six "environmentally skeptical" books published in the 1990s, 92 percent were linked to these right-wing foundations (only thirteen were published in the 1980s, and 100 percent were linked to the foundations).

A third of all Americans think that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks on September 11.3 Nearly a quarter still think that there's no solid evidence that smoking kills.4 And as recently as 2007, 40 percent of Americans believed that scientific experts were still arguing about the reality of global warming.5

Friends must always be treated as if one day they might be enemies.

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

A prince should suspect everything.

In France, only the impossible is admired.