this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2024
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Skeptic

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A community for Scientific Skepticism:

Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism, sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence.

Do not confuse this with General Skepticism, Philosophical Skepticism, or Denialism.

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"A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence." -David Hume

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't exactly call BoingBoing a good source for skeptics.

Just look at the front page- It's a combination of political gossip, regular gossip and just random trash.

These are the top three "stories" right now.

Deutsche Welle it is not.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You proved that boingboing is not a trustworthy website. But it might be still interesting to speculate on why Trump didnt release the medical report (if he indeed, didnt release it)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

wild speculation is not an exercise in skepticism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_skepticism

Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry,[1] is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Speculating about that sort of thing is not really a skeptical point of view, which is based in evidence. Until we can see what is under the bandage, we will not know why the big bandage is necessary.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Skepticism, also spelled scepticism (from the Greek σκέπτομαι skeptomai, to search, to think about or look for), refers to a doubting attitude toward knowledge.

It doesn't require evidence to be a skeptic, merely to question claims made by others. When only dogma and hearsay exist, a skeptic should draw no conclusions.

However, regarding Trump, based on past evidence of his behavior, a skeptic could assume a high probability of deception in some form.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

Please read Carl Sagan’s nine precepts of skeptical thinking. It is in the sidebar.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I don't think I've ever heard it said that a skeptical viewpoint must be rooted in evidence.

I think people are skeptical of pretty much anything that Trump does or says because he's a proven serial liar. That still isn't evidence that any individual claim is false, though.

Is this a domain specific definition, something outside of conversational usage? Or am I just totally out to lunch?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

Please read Carl Sagan's nine precepts of skeptical thinking. It is in the sidebar.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Like, is it covering up how miniscule his injury is and is mainly intended to drum up sympathy/anger? More than likely

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

Outscaling his tiny hands.