I’ve just thought about something, and it’s (surprise!) yet another thing that irritates me. So, round two.
This time, I’m taking aim at gullible people (no, that word is not in the dictionary, so don’t bother looking it up). You know, the people who instantly believe what they are told. But that’s not the biggest problem. It’s when they vehemently defend that belief afterwards, rather than changing their mind like they did in the first place. It’s a sort of double standard, where one is gullible, then suddenly “stuck” in their position until someone finally knocks sense into them.
And no, this isn’t just aimed at people who believe wacky things because of gullibility. It happens to everybody. I’m sure there are good scientists who have believed their preliminary results so fanatically that they miss the truth, and then it takes months before they are convinced of their error. So no, this isn’t just a rant against ignorance. It serves a point for skeptics: don’t become too firmly entrenched in your position. You may be a good skeptic, but you should keep your objective viewpoint at the ready for whenever you need to judge a new idea. Remember, anything new and revolutionary is not necessarily wrong (although many times it will be). You just need to check first.