I'm a pretty regular listener to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast. Hosted by Yale Medical School professor Steven Novella, it is a solid source for science news. The show is loosely associated with The Skeptics' Society, whose mission is "to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on controversial ideas and claims." The SGU podcast seeks to debunk the claims of anti-vaccinators, UFO abductees, acupuncturists, and anyone or anything they deem unscientific. Occasionally, however, the tone they strike when criticizing non-skeptics leaves me skeptical.
Maybe I'm just spoiled because I'm surrounded by critical thinkers who don't need me to explain to them why evolution is a solid theory, why getting vaccinated is important, or that seances don't really channel dead people. While I understand the need to educate the masses about the need for vaccines, I'm not at all bothered by people who believe in ghosts, or UFOs, or alternative medicine. I'm not even bothered by people who don't believe in evolution, as long as they aren't biologists or biology teachers.
Mostly, I am skeptical of crusades. The minute you stop listening and start preaching is the moment you cease to be a skeptic. To be a true skeptic, you must be open to the possibility that you are wrong. If you are going to preach, you have to choose your battles carefully. If someone feels better after seeing an acupuncturist, is it harming anyone? Do people that claim to have been abducted by aliens really pose a threat to society?
Skeptics, for the most part, have their heart in the right place. But they must recognize that the best way to change someone's mind is to first understand what's in their mind - and you can't do that without understanding their belief system. Instead of focusing on why others are wrong, skeptics should explore where these incorrect beliefs come from, and then try to have a dialogue with those they disagree with instead of preaching to them.
