I believe she was pointing out that the other end of the spectrum, belief, has saved and can save people in the same way that you say it would be worth it to be overly skeptical to save one's butt even once.
Pathological Skepticism
- Thread starter stateofmind
- Start date
I believe she was pointing out that the other end of the spectrum, belief, has saved and can save people in the same way that you say it would be worth it to be overly skeptical to save one's butt even once.
yes, that was part of my point.
One can be skeptical that what was true yesterday is true today.
One can be skeptical of every single person's motives.
One can be skeptical about one's own intuition to a degree that one is, basically, paralyzed.
Every day we make decisions rapidly based on trusting our intuitions to manage a wide variety of situations. If we decide to be consistantly skeptical about this, we rapidly become a mess. And, in fact, some people do become this kind of mess. In fact I would go so far to say that each of us at one time or another or in certain areas of life and skeptical about our own abilities and intuitions to a problematic degree. Often based on epistemological ideas we should be more skeptical about.
One can be skeptical of every single person's motives.
One can be skeptical about one's own intuition to a degree that one is, basically, paralyzed.
Every day we make decisions rapidly based on trusting our intuitions to manage a wide variety of situations. If we decide to be consistantly skeptical about this, we rapidly become a mess. And, in fact, some people do become this kind of mess. In fact I would go so far to say that each of us at one time or another or in certain areas of life and skeptical about our own abilities and intuitions to a problematic degree. Often based on epistemological ideas we should be more skeptical about.
dixonmassey
Valued Senior Member
I take it you missed the point then dixon?
Hope can make a difference.
Of course there are occasions when it can't.
Many skill acquisition situations work much better if the instructor reacts as if the person is showing great potential, regardless of whether this is true or not. Children learn better when their teachers treat them as if they are smart, even if they have tested poorly before being exposed to this.
Optimism can help in a wide range of situations: from job interviews to medical catastrophies to public speaking to asking someone out.
One should be skeptical about both the epistemology underlying skepticism and the generalized use of skepticism. If only for consistency.
And it is courteous to respond to specific points, especially when some of them are a response to your request for clarification.
Last edited:
dixonmassey
Valued Senior Member
I find it really amusing that "pessimistic skeptics" normally don't try to impose their less than cheery views on the unenlightened public neither they discriminate on the basis of "negativity". You find "eternal" happiness in the lobotomized world of positive attitude and incessant self-adjusting? You want to damage your mouth by never ending fake smiles and laughter? You want to be a perpetual fake, cheery chatter box spouting slogans you've picked up from bosses and gurus of self-help industry? You want to be a Prozaced drone programmed to disregard anything that doesn't fit in the world of Positivity? FINE. We "skeptics" do NOT give a fuck, do what makes you happy and whole.
Yet, "positive" crowd is on crusade to to eradicate their less cheery antipodes. Why? Relentless push of fake "Positivity" (corporations love it, guess why?). Optimism and skepticism (in their "pure" forms) are just two different strategies of coping with life. Neither offers distinct advantage "optimists" claim they have on their side. However, since "positive thinking" and Prosac induced optimism became social control and marketeering tools, balance is skewed due to rampant employment discrimination. So being yourself (If you happened to be a "skeptic") carries an additional price tag. Government and employers LOVE cheery, positive and lobotomized crowds. I wonder why.
Yet, "positive" crowd is on crusade to to eradicate their less cheery antipodes. Why? Relentless push of fake "Positivity" (corporations love it, guess why?). Optimism and skepticism (in their "pure" forms) are just two different strategies of coping with life. Neither offers distinct advantage "optimists" claim they have on their side. However, since "positive thinking" and Prosac induced optimism became social control and marketeering tools, balance is skewed due to rampant employment discrimination. So being yourself (If you happened to be a "skeptic") carries an additional price tag. Government and employers LOVE cheery, positive and lobotomized crowds. I wonder why.
I think the optimist does have a distinct advantage over the pessimist in a lot of situations (maybe even all?). In the case of self-fulfilling prophecies the cynic and pessimist are clearly disadvantaged. I personally do not take prosac or any anti-depressants or even any drugs... so I think you're stereotyping might be a bit off...
dixonmassey
Valued Senior Member
I would strongly disagree. Children "learn" bloated ego, little else. This approach doesn't provide a reference point to measure up, realistic view of oneself, thick skin and "peace" of being who you are. Realistic picture of oneself is being substituted with wishy washy PC BS.
Right here. Let's stop. This was a straw man argument. Are you going to discuss this in an honest respectful manner? If not, then be honest enough to say this, so I don't waste my time.
I have never said that one should always be positive. I have pointed out that positive beliefs can help. I have pointed out that skepticism can cause problems - something you did not once respond to.
Now you are twisted this to mean that I think positive thinking is always good. If I think your generalization is incorrect that does not mean I want to replace it with mine.
dixonmassey
Valued Senior Member
Pessimists are disadvantaged because they can't make a tasty candy out of less than palatable ingredients while keeping straight face. Optimists have half full glasses to look through, frequently, they can effortlessly avoid ethical dilemmas using their magic glasses. That's what makes a sale - feeling upbeat about a product
People love optimism and confidence even if it's built on sand, a con artist needs just these two things nothing else. Positive thinking is uniquely suited to mass market economies and mass societies especially when mass market economies enter in the uncharted waters of playing with Earth life supports.They can get graded just as hard as you like. But if you take two groups of students with the same GPA and tell one teacher that their half are good students and the other teacher their half are bad, the former group will perform better, after a few months on INDEPENDENTLY carried out testing.
The same goes for adults. An adult who is skeptical about their ability to learn a new skill and the instructor does not intervene will do much worse than people who have hope - even if it is not grounded - and than people where the instructors intervene and instill confidence in their ability to learn.
Imagine if every time you ran you were skeptical about your ability to control your legs and balance properly. Are you really telling me you would run as well?
To be fair, those dinosaurs thought they were gonna be blown off the face of the earth by the collision of a giant asteroid for years.
I've always wondered why it is people twist one sentence into an entire statement of absolutes on forums etc...
Is that a maturity thing or something?
It's why I completely gave up on that Abortion thread. I cannot say ANYTHING that might contradict someones opinion without them getting all hostile and acting as though I've said a bunch of things that I never said.
It's extremely annoying.
Is that a maturity thing or something?
It's why I completely gave up on that Abortion thread. I cannot say ANYTHING that might contradict someones opinion without them getting all hostile and acting as though I've said a bunch of things that I never said.
It's extremely annoying.
Did you think you were in the "Abortion" thread? This thread is called "Pathological Skepticism" - maybe you accidentally clicked the wrong thread?
I have enountered it a lot. If someone says All X are B. And you point out that a certain X is C, suddenly you are taken to be asserting that all X are C.
It's not an age thing, to answer obliquely.
Abortion is a charged issue. You would think, however, that skepticism would be less volatile. I suppose I should say...I would have thought. How can a skeptic not be skeptical about a complete rejection of a common human outlook like belief?
yes.
He said 'that'. He would have said 'this thread' if he'd meant this one.
See the skeptical dinosaurs had no reason to expect that the next day, the day the meteor came, would be the same. They died like the other dinosaurs, but they were less surprised. Of course, all the days leading up to that day, they were slightly surprised that all the other dinosaurs blithely went out AS IF they could expect to find food and survive.
True. I recant my post neverfly. Apologies.