Quote by Massimo Pigliucci

[T]he downside of skepticism: it can easily turn into an arrogant position of a priori rejection of any new phenomenon or idea, a position that is as lacking in critical thinking as the one of the true believer, and that simply does not help either science or the public at large.

[T]he downside of skepticism: it can easily turn into an arr

Summary

This quote highlights the potential negative consequence of skepticism. While skepticism is often seen as an important aspect of critical thinking, the quote emphasizes that it can become problematic when it transforms into an arrogant attitude of automatically dismissing any new concept or phenomenon. This closed-minded approach is seen as equally lacking in critical thinking as blind faith or belief. Ultimately, this kind of skepticism hinders progress both in scientific research and in providing enlightenment to the general public.

Topics

Science Skepticism

By Massimo Pigliucci

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love

Happy is the novelist who manages to preserve an actual love letter that he received when he was young within a work of fiction, embedded in it like a clean bullet in flabby flesh and quite secure there, among spurious lives.

Vladimir Nabokov

Authors & Writing

You get paid to impact the world, not be impacted by it.

You get paid to impact the world, not be impacted by it.

Success & Failure

Has it not got down as thin as the homeopathic soup that was

Has it not got down as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death?

Abraham Lincoln

But sorry is the Kool-Aid of human emotions. [...] True sorr

But sorry is the Kool-Aid of human emotions. [...] True sorrow is as rare as true love.

Sorrow Stephen King Carrie Remorse Sorry

Fame - a few words upon a tombstone, and the truth of those

Fame - a few words upon a tombstone, and the truth of those not to be depended on.

Christian Nestell Bovee

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when whateve

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.

You see people who have been very heavy in their life who ha

You see people who have been very heavy in their life who have taken that body, trimmed it down, firmed it up through discipline, exercise and being able to say no. Eating properly, that all comes into it.

To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who

To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it those who have, fear it.

All cynics are disappointed idealists. The more stars in the

All cynics are disappointed idealists. The more stars in the eyes, the harder the fall.

It's a business you go into because you're an egocentric. It

It's a business you go into because you're an egocentric. It's a very embarrassing profession.

Katharine Hepburn

Look up and not down;Look forward and not back;Look out and

Look up and not down;Look forward and not back;Look out and not in;Lend a Hand.

Edward Everett Hale

I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is

I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is a shortcut of the process.