tools of skepticism and the courage to use them

[balmofgilead]

I'm still reading The Demon-Haunted World, and just now I read "But the tools of skepticism are generally unavailable to the citizens of our society. They're hardly ever mentioned in the schools, even in the presentation of science, its most ardent practitioner

Comments

[wlotus]

That was the mentality imparted by my family and by the churches of my youth. It is why I am skeptical of religious claims, now. Now I can't believe much without seeing it for myself, because I was told so much stuff that simply makes no common sense, yet I was expected to believe it.

[balmofgilead]

On some level I have a tough time abandoning that mentality, or at least some of the ideas I encountered when I had that mentality, even though I don't think it's rational. I still sometimes do a double-take when I hear/read about things like the earth being billions of years old, for example, even though the science behind that is good, because as a kid I accepted as fact that it was closer to 6000 years old.