The Burden of Skepticism

The Burden of Skepticism : Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Summary

Carl Sagan wrote a great essay titled "The Burden of Skeoticism." Skepticism: What is it? Not much of it is esoteric. It happens to us every day. In essence, it is casting doubt on someone's beliefs and views. Let's use purchasing a used car as an illustration. We tend to question every single feature of the vehicle. However, skepticism is not always a healthy thing, especially in fields like science and medicine that deal with social and human elements.

There are two different personality types in society: creative thinkers and critical thinkers. A critical thinker questions the beliefs of a creative thinker whereas a creative thinker creates new theories and blogs about technology, science, and business. They provide as evidence of the harmful effects of those original thinker's views. If all we are is skeptics, then no ideas get past us. We will never discover something novel or inventive. We will age into a cranky old man who believes that the world is run by nonsense. But every time, perhaps once every hundred classes, a new thought proves to be accurate, true, and great. If we have a strong tendency to be pessimistic about everything, we will either dislike it or miss it, and in either case, we will be impeding advancement and knowledge.

On the other hand, if we lack any feeling of skepticism and are open to the point of credulity, we are unable to discriminate between good ideas and useless ones. If all thoughts are equally valid, we are in trouble since it would seem that none of them are valid at all.

Application of Four Levels

• Literal Comprehension
  • Skepticism is a part of daily existence. Even if we have no prior knowledge about the vehicle, if we must purchase a used car, we inspect it. We are aware that we can regret it if we buy anything without first inspecting it. Skepticism is sometimes used, but it is not used in advertisements or in politics. So we played a bit dirty. However, if we do not use it in the case of medication, we may incur a significant loss.
• Interpretation
  • The primary goal of this text is to inform readers on the benefits and drawbacks of skepticism. Through this essay, the author is trying to convince us that we should only be doubtful in urgent situations. We won't achieve anything if we start having doubts about everything. But if we don't also have skepticism, we won't be able to discriminate between good and wrong. Scientists today have greater success since they incorporate alternative theories when necessary. In a similar way, we ought to accept alternative theories that are supported by observations from experiments and real-world circumstances. If we look at the entire history of humanity, we discover that people have always subscribed to some sort of culturally recognized belief system. The fact that no human need is ever met is the cause of this. These beliefs might be able to meet those unmet requirements. It is a normal occurrence for us to want to take our deceased family members. And we should be glad that we discovered that our spirit does not perish and that our existence will not cease completely.
• Critical Thinking
  • Many mediums and channels assert that they can communicate with a person's long-dead spirit. However, these spirits only respond to broad, ambiguous (unclear) questions and do not respond to any specific questions. Their precise response would have greatly aided our understanding of the historical civilization. Why did the author fully discount the notion of a deity or spirit? Can he back up his claims?
• Assimilation
  • Skepticism can be harmful. It is therefore not taught in schools. For human growth, skepticism and receptivity to new ideas and perspectives are equally crucial. We won't be able to distinguish between what is good and evil if we are too open-minded. On the other hand, if we are very pessimistic, no new ideas will flourish. Scientists create new ideas in the form of hypotheses and carefully examine them. They will be accepted if their theories are validated and shown to be accurate. The scientists will acknowledge their errors if they are later found to be erroneous. However, no matter how incorrect their notions may be, political and religious leaders never accept anything that goes against their principles.

Referance

(Subedi, K.P. and Bhandari, M.B. (2014). Business English. Kathmandu: Highland Publication P. Ltd.)