Scientific Scrutiny is Difficult to Bear
Even when it's applied sensitively, scientific scepticism may come across as arrogant, dogmatic, heartless and dismissive of the feelings and deeply held beliefs of others. And, it must be said, some scientists and dedicated sceptics apply this tool as a blunt instrument, with little finesse. Sometimes it looks as if the sceptical conclusion came first, that contentions were dismissed before, not after, the evidence was examined. All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who challenges our belief system as insufficiently well based - or who, like Socrates, merely asks embarrassing questions that we haven't thought of, or demonstrates that we've swept key underlying assumptions under the rug - it becomes much more than a search for knowledge. It feels like a personal assault.
Notes:
It comes across as arrogant and insensitive.
Folksonomies: science culture criticism
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/law, govt and politics (0.506622)
/science/social science/philosophy (0.502814)
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Entities:
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Concepts:
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Philosophy (0.759522): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Scientific method (0.690372): dbpedia | freebase
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Religion (0.662093): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Philosophical skepticism (0.654400): dbpedia | freebase
Doubt (0.647076): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
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The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark