Nevermind about faith, with its contemporary definition that has so far diverged from the traditional ANE (Biblical) one that the two have become almost exact opposites. Skepticism is sometimes quite healthy
Remember those pesky e-mails circulating in Hotmail/Yahoo about sending this e-mail to X number of persons else your account gets deleted. Well, a lot of people either fell for it or decided to play it safe. As for me, I laughed and deleted it. E-mail accounts are still fine.
There are other ones too, like the unproven "Don't drink cold water after a meal else you'll get cancer etc."
But people do fall for that, the main reason is because its convincing, and it computes quite well in the mind (well, I fell for some of that for those reasons and nothing more). But a glance at serious, mainstream scientific studies (think journal articles and the like) usually disproves that. Entertain yourself by seeing how many of these Cancer Myths you hold to. Especially interesting is Myth 9, which is basically the big, secret, medical conspiracy theory. I actually know a few people who believe in that. A note on Myth 8 though: studies are still ongoing, and WHO recommends a play it safe approach.
Healthy skepticism is not about playing Doubting Thomas 24/7, which is as stupid as playing Mr. Gullible. No, it's something more like being a good Berean. Check, check, and check it thoroughly.
Which is why Popper is so important to me. Falsifiability is a prerequisite for sanity.
Remember those pesky e-mails circulating in Hotmail/Yahoo about sending this e-mail to X number of persons else your account gets deleted. Well, a lot of people either fell for it or decided to play it safe. As for me, I laughed and deleted it. E-mail accounts are still fine.
There are other ones too, like the unproven "Don't drink cold water after a meal else you'll get cancer etc."
But people do fall for that, the main reason is because its convincing, and it computes quite well in the mind (well, I fell for some of that for those reasons and nothing more). But a glance at serious, mainstream scientific studies (think journal articles and the like) usually disproves that. Entertain yourself by seeing how many of these Cancer Myths you hold to. Especially interesting is Myth 9, which is basically the big, secret, medical conspiracy theory. I actually know a few people who believe in that. A note on Myth 8 though: studies are still ongoing, and WHO recommends a play it safe approach.
Healthy skepticism is not about playing Doubting Thomas 24/7, which is as stupid as playing Mr. Gullible. No, it's something more like being a good Berean. Check, check, and check it thoroughly.
Which is why Popper is so important to me. Falsifiability is a prerequisite for sanity.
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