Skepticism

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Skepticism has a long history that includes multiple meanings and in the early twenty-first century has complex ethical implications for science and technology. It plays an important role within science and technology but also can be applied to the same areas. In the former case skepticism may serve as a means to reject mistaken or false claims, limit fraud and misconduct, and produce evaluations of engineering designs and the safety of technologies. In the latter case skepticism may help the public place the benefits of science and technology in a larger perspective, although it also may deprive the public of certain real benefits.

The roots of skepticism can be traced back at least 2,500 years to the ancient Greeks. The historian of skepticism Richard Popkin states: "Academic scepticism, so-called because it was formulated in the Platonic Academy in the third century, B.C.E., developed from the Socratic observation, 'All I know is that I know nothing'" (Popkin 1979, p. xiii). In fact, the philosopher Pyrrho and his followers doubted the possibility of real knowledge of any kind, a viewpoint that led to a form of nihilism. Skepticism in this sense is a positive assertionabout knowledge and thus cannot be held seriously if it is turned on itself: If one is skeptical about everything, one also has to be skeptical about one's own skepticism. Like a decaying subatomic particle pure skepticism uncoils and spins off the viewing screen of the mind's intellectual cloud chamber.

A more pragmatic meaning of the word skeptic can be found in the Greek word skepsis, which means "examination, inquiry, consideration." The Oxford English Dictionary gives this historical usage: "One who doubts the validity of what claims to be knowledge in some particular department of inquiry; one who maintains a doubting attitude with reference to some particular question or statement," along with "a seeker after truth; an inquirer who has not yet arrived at definite convictions." Skepticism is not "seek and ye shall find" but "seek and keep an open mind." In this context having an open mind means finding the essential balance between orthodoxy and heresy, between a total commitment to the status quo and the blind pursuit of new ideas, between being open-minded enough to accept radical new ideas and being so open-minded that one's brain cannot function.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks skepticism has evolved along with other epistemologies. On one level the Enlightenment was a century-long skeptical movement because there were few beliefs or institutions that did not come under the critical scrutiny of thinkers such as Voltaire (1694–1778), Denis Diderot (1713–1784), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), John Locke (1632–1704), and Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). David Hume (1711–1776) in Scotland and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) in Germany were skeptics' skeptics in an age of skepticism, and their influence continues to be felt in the early 2000s. In the twentieth century Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and Harry Houdini (1874–1926) stood out as representatives of skeptical intellectuals and activists, respectively. Martin Gardner's Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (1952) launched the contemporary skeptical movement.

Starting in the 1970s, the magician James "the Amazing" Randi's psychic challenges and media appearances pushed the skeptical movement to the forefront of public consciousness. In 1976 the philosopher Paul Kurtz (born 1925) founded an international skeptical organization called the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), and in 1991 Michael Shermer cofounded the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine. This has led to the formation of a burgeoning group of people calling themselves skeptics who conduct investigations, hold monthly meetings and annual conferences, and provide the media and the general public with natural explanations for apparently supernatural phenomena.

Although intellectual skepticism flourishes in academia, skeptical activism has emerged as a powerful force in the application of science to all claims. In fact modern skepticism is embodied in the scientific method, which involves gathering data to formulate and test naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena. A claim becomes factual when it is confirmed to an extent where it would be reasonable to offer temporary agreement. However, all facts in science are provisional and subject to challenge, and skepticism thus is a method that leads to provisional conclusions.

Some claims, such as water dowsing, extrasensory perception (ESP), and creationism, have been tested and have failed the tests often enough that they may be rejected provisionally as false. Other claims, such as hypnosis, near-death experiences, and neurological correlates of consciousness, also have been tested, but the results have been inconclusive. Finally, there are claims, such as string theory, inflationary cosmology, and multiple or parallel universes, that are theoretically possible but have not been tested empirically. The key to skepticism is to apply the methods of science continuously and vigorously to make it possible to navigate the straits between "know nothing" skepticism and "anything goes" credulity. In this sense skepticism is the ethical component of science. It is the attitude that keeps the scientific method honest, the canary in the scientist's mine.

In regard to ethical concerns it is important to recognize the fallibility of science and skepticism. Although scientific skepticism is well suited for identifying certain kinds of mistakes and errors in thinking, such as what are called type I errors, or false positives, its standards are so high that it occasionally leads to the commission of a type II error, or false negative, failing to identify, for example, potential lifesaving medicines.

However, within this fallibility there are opportunities for self-correction. Whether mistakes are made honestly or dishonestly, whether a fraud is perpetrated unknowingly or knowingly, in time it will be recognized. The cold fusion fiasco in the late 1980s was a classic example of how organized skepticism can identify hype and error. Because of the importance of this self-correcting feature, there is in the profession what the Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman called "a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty—a kind of leaning over backwards." As Feynman explained: "If you're doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid—not only what you think is right about it: other causes that could possibly explain your results" (1988, p. 247). Of course, not all scientists live up to this ideal.

What separates skepticism and science from other human activities is the tentative nature of all conclusions: There are no final absolutes, only varying degrees of probability. Skepticism is not the affirmation of a set of beliefs but a process of inquiry that leads to the building of a testable body of knowledge that is open to rejection or confirmation. In skepticism, knowledge is fluid and certainty is fleeting. That is the heart of its limitation and its greatest strength.

Libertarianism;; Locke, John;; Merton, Robert;; Pseudoscience;; Tocqueville, Alexis De;; Wittgenstein, Ludwig.

Feynman, Richard P. (1988). What Do YOU Care What Other People Think? New York: Norton. A collection of first-person accounts by a Nobel laureate on how science is done, including his investigation into the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Gardner, Martin. (1982 [1952]). Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. New York: Dover. The book that launched the skeptical movement. Still current after fifty years, it covers unidentified flying objects, scientology, alternative medical claims, and ways to detect pseudoscience.

Hecht, Jennifer Michael. (2003). Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Motivation, from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson. San Francisco: Harper. A comprehensive history of skepticism from the ancient Greeks to modern atheists; includes both intellectuals and activists.

Popkin, Richard H. (1979). The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza. Berkeley: University of California Press. An excellent history of intellectual skepticism by a philosopher and skeptic.

Randi, James. (1985). Flim Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and Other Delusions. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. The classic work of a master investigator of psychics and scam artists; includes his many personal investigations into the world of the paranormal.

Shermer, Michael. (1997). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. New York: Freeman. A skeptical and scientific manifesto that includes analyses of creationism, Holocaust denial, immortality, near-death experiences, cults, and the nature of pseudoscience and superstition.

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