I’ve always felt that skepticism is a virtue because it protects us, and society as a whole, from falling for scams, manipulation, and dishonesty. This post isn’t in response to one single event or issue, but rather many things that I have personally observed over the past 4+ years.

I’ve seen a number of people on Facebook get pulled into pyramid schemes. I’ve seen people post anti-science content including anti-GMO and anti-Vaccination propaganda. I’ve seen a ton of people post very obviously fake political posts, including made up quotes and misinterpreted statistics. I’ve seen people spread and believe rumors about people that are pulled out of thin air. And the thing that really gets me is that all of these things could be so easily fact-checked. Most only require looking at the first result of a Google search that would take them to Snopes, or at most sending one email. Instead they inaccurately tear down science, public discourse, themselves, their relationships with their friends, and other people around them.

The people I see do a lot of these things are people I know are smart (mostly…), but it seems that being smart doesn’t mean they know that they should be skeptical of what they hear people say or see people post. In fact, I think smarter people might be, in some cases, *more* susceptible to this sort of thing because they can become arrogant and think that they know better than other people. If you have an elitist attitude why would you fact-check? After all you “know better than almost everybody else” right? (Of course in reality we all have blind-spots). I think skepticism is something that should be emphasized a lot more when kids are growing up, both in schools and from parents.

Take, for example, some of the pyramid schemes I’ve seen FB friends become sucked into. Herbalife is one that comes to mind (there are many others) where a simple Google search reveals numerous lawsuits against them for being a pyramid scheme. Many of these companies market themselves as “Multi-Level Marketing”. Such a search also reveals the testimonies of various people who used to work at MLMs who tell horror stories of how much they worked, how little they made (or even how much they lost), and how they ended up ruining important relationships in their lives. MLMs often sell pseudo-scientific “cures” like essential oils and “detox” kits. Here is a great group with tons of personal testimony about MLMs: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/ Just a simple Google search shows that this is not the type of group you want to work for, and that their claims are simply untrue. Here’s a good article:

https://medium.com/…/so-you-made-money-last-year-selling-in…

Anti-science posts are some of the easier ones to pick apart. I’ve seen shared images that claim vaccines and GMOs contain all kinds of things they just don’t. I also wish the more conspiracy-minded people would think for a minute about whether there is any motivation for people to do the things they think they do. For example, some people think that the government is somehow covering up that vaccines cause autism or some such bs. Why would the government do that? Would they want a nation of autistic people? How would “they” benefit? It just makes no sense if you stop and think for a minute. Also, doctors don’t get paid for vaccines, also something that a simple Google search can tell people.

Then you get into politics, which is a complete mess (although that probably isn’t surprising). It is important to acknowledge that spreading false information that could easily be fact-checked is an issue that spreads across all ideologies. I might argue that some ideologies do this more than others, and certainly that some tell more significant lies than others, but I’ve seen it across the spectrum. Made up or mis-attributed quotes are some of the most common things I see, but the misuse of statistics probably bothers me even more, especially because I see it from the Left fairly often. I think if people had to learn research methods in school this would be a lot less of a problem. Look at how studies were conducted, how many were conducted, and make sure you understand what they were actually measuring!

When it comes to rumors, I know everybody thinks they are immune to falling for them, but it’s actually super easy to believe them without question if you are not on guard. Normally that is because they are coming from people you trust, like your friends for example. However, who told your friends? And who told that person? It’s a game of telephone, and you never know the motivation of the person who started it all. I’ve fallen victim to people spreading rumors this way, but I almost believed one myself earlier this year, when I heard that certain people were banned from a political event I attended. Fortunately, the person who told me said that he had heard it from somebody else and wasn’t 100% sure, so I fact-checked it. The person who told me the rumor is quite smart and very involved in the organization, but upon fact-checking I found the statement was absolutely false.

The value of skepticism can also be readily applied to cults, cult-like religions, and those that pull very selectively from their holy books, but that discussion would be a whole other article!

All-in-all my point is that skepticism is a virtue and that one should always fact-check if there is any opportunity to do so. Even if great people tell you something, remember that everybody can be mislead.

(This was derived from a Facebook post I made, so it might not be written quite as well as my other work, but it was developed enough I figured I should post it here too!)