Characteristics and Behaviors of PseudoSkeptics
Regardless of how they define themselves, a pseudo-skeptic is a pseudo-skeptic if their actions and behaviors fit the characteristics of one. Here are some lists of behavior criteria that define a pseudoskeptic.
In the SCEPCOP treatise introduction, I list these primary differences between the true skeptic vs. the pseudo-skeptic:
True Skeptics / Open-Minded Skeptics
- Asks questions to try to understand new things
- Applies critical examination and inquiry to all sides, including their own
- Is nonjudgmental, doesn't jump to rash conclusions
- Seeks the truth and considers it the highest aim
- Thinks in terms of possibilities rather than in preserving fixed views
- Fairly and objectively weighs evidence on all sides
- Acknowledges valid convincing evidence rather than ignoring or denying it
- Possesses solid sharp common sense and reason
- Is able to adapt their paradigms to new evidence and update their hypothesis to fit the data
PseudoSkeptics / Closed-Minded Skeptics
- Doesn't ask questions to try to understand new things, but judges things by whether they fit into the orthodox materialist paradigm
- Applies "critical thinking" only to what opposes the status quo, but never the status quo itself
- Carries a set of fixed unchanging beliefs which all data must conform to
- Is not interested in truth, evidence or facts, only in defending orthodoxy and the status quo
- Cannot think in terms of possibilities, but views their own fixed beliefs as constant
- Is willing to lie and deceive to protect the status quo and materialism, which is their true master
- Automatically dismisses and denies all information that contradicts materialism and orthodoxy
- Is judgmental and quick to draw conclusions about things they know little or nothing about
- Scoffs and ridicules their targets instead of using objective unbiased analysis and examination
- Insists that everything unknown and unexplained must have a conventional materialistic explanation
- Uses semantics and word games with their own rules of logic to try to win arguments
- Is unable to adapt their paradigms to new evidence but instead denies data which doesn't fit into their hypothesis
Wikipedia's original entry on pathological skepticism (before pseudoskeptics took it down) listed these defining traits of pseudoskeptics:
"The difference between pseudoskepticism and skepticism appear in the conduct of an individual's actions. Among the indications of pseudoskeptical actions are:
- Resorting to various logical fallacies (usually in an attack against those disputing a theory).
- The assumption of facts (such as, stating theories determine phenomena).
- The obfuscation of facts.
- The use of attractive or neutral euphemisms to disguise unpleasant facts concerning their own positions.
- Insisting that fundamental framework and theory of science hardly change.
- Unwavering belief that science is a consensus and run on majority rule.
- Maintaining a stance of hostility and intolerance.
- Instituting hurdles against new theories by "moving the goalposts".
- Ignoring intellectual suppression of unorthodox theories.
- Judging a theory or phenomena without investigation and insisting on ignoring the details thereafter."
In the SCEPCOP forum, Steve Trueblue observed these five consistent patterns in pseudoskeptics:
"As a skilled observer you will also note that Pseudoskeptics:
- Seldom, in fact almost never, ask questions, reflecting Zero Curiosity thus learning difficulties
- Practice a very high level of self deception and mistakenly believe they can lie to adults as they did in childhood
- Display markedly deficient reading and comprehension skills
- Display inability to connect thoughts sequentially and plan an argument- often defeating their own case
- Depend on bluster and bullying and name calling to make up for lack of argument content"
In short, these pseudoskeptics are materialist fundamentalists driven by fanatical beliefs and views which they seek to proselytize to the world. Regardless of facts or evidence, they ALWAYS start and end with the following dogmatic positions:
- Paranormal claims are all bunk and cannot be true. There is no evidence for them.
- Conspiracies are all false. There is no evidence for them. Official sources are not to be questioned.
- Anything that challenges the status quo and materialism is wrong and must be debunked.
- Only natural materialistic explanations are acceptable. Paranormal ones are not.
They begin with those precepts and always come back to them, regardless of the facts or evidence in any investigation or debate, EVERYTIME. That's one consistent thing you will notice about them. And they will resort to playing games, ridicule, denial, even deliberate distortion to maintain these core positions. That's why they are not really capable of serious honest discussion. Instead, they play games and cheat at them in order to win. I've seen them do it time and time again. It doesn't matter how much proof or evidence you have. All of that is irrelevant to them.
They will never admit that they've lost, even though technically they have. When cornered by facts and reason, they resort to denial or ad hominem attacks. Or they even will spin your own arguments against you, without basis. It's like winning a chess game against an opponent, and even though the rules say they are checkmated, they still refuse to admit defeat. That's not fair, honest, or decent behavior.
They claim that their behavior is "skepticism" but in reality they know nothing about the true meaning of skepticism nor practice it since they apply no skepticism to their own beliefs or to the status quo but in fact have a total blind spot to them. Pyrrho, the founder of "Skepticism", intended for it to be about open inquiry and suspension of judgment.
- In classical philosophy, skepticism refers to the teachings and the traits of the 'Skeptikoi', a school of philosophers of whom it was said that they 'asserted nothing but only opined.' (Liddell and Scott) In this sense, philosophical skepticism, or Pyrrhonism, is the philosophical position that one should suspend judgment in investigations.[1]
And according to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, a skeptic is:
- "One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons."
But rather than inquiring, or asking questions to try to understand something, they seek to debunk, discredit and ridicule anything that doesn't fit into their belief system. And rather than suspending judgment, they make accusations of fraud and delusion of all paranormal claimants. Hence, we call them pseudoskeptics (a term coined by the late Marcello Truzzi) for their actions and behaviors are the complete antithesis of what skepticism truly means.
- Pseudoskepticism (or pseudo-skepticism) is defined as thinking that claims to be Skeptical but is actually faith-based disbelief. Because real skepticism is a justifiable position, pseudoskepticism may also be defined as making pseudoscientific arguments in pursuit of a skeptical agenda.
- Pseudoskepticism is a general term which encompasses two types of faith-based disbelief: making positive claims that something is wrong or unreal without evidence (positive disbelief), and rejecting sufficient evidence.
This insightful YouTuber hit the bull's eye about pseudoskeptics with this:
- "What skeptics fail to understand is that skepticism involves being skeptical of your own position, it does not mean just being skeptical of that which you do not believe in, otherwise we are all skeptics and that renders their use of the term "skeptic" meaningless. A true skeptic casts skepticism on their own position as well. Since the Randi crowd do not employ skepticism in this respect then they are fairly termed pseudo skeptics and demean the term skepticism."
Likewise, someone observed to me:
- "The original definition of skeptic was a person who questions ALL beliefs, facts, and points-of-view. A healthy perspective in my opinion. Today's common definition of skeptic is someone who questions any belief that strays outside of the status quo, yet leaving the status quo itself completely unquestioned. Kind of a juvenile and intellectually lazy practice in my opinion."
Dean Radin, who spent many years studying parapsychology and skeptical views, concluded the same in his acclaimed book Entangled Minds: (pages 10-11)
- "Some skeptics pushed doubt to extremes and insisted that positive evidence was always due to mistakes or intentional fraud. As I saw it, within this dialectic one side was struggling to understand the depths of inner space by probing Nature with clever questions. The other was trying to maintain the status quo through passionate, and sometimes vicious, denial. The former were willing to take risks to advance knowledge, the latter were naysayers interested mainly in defending dogma."
Even Wikipedia indirectly admits that modern skepticism is really about rejecting new information rather than true inquiry:
- The word skepticism can characterize a position on a single claim, but in scholastic circles more frequently describes a lasting mind-set and an approach to accepting or rejecting new information.
In addition, despite their worship of science, they do not even follow the Scientific Method, because they do not update their hypotheses to fit the data, but instead reject data that doesn't fit into their hypothesis, which is a direct violation of the Scientific Method of course. There are plenty of examples of this.
- "You have to remember that the argument is not really about the evidence. The argument is about their assumptions and their preconceptions. Their preconceptions are, with these sort of phenomena, that they don’t make any sense and challenge their world view. So, they’re going to do anything they possibly can to dismiss evidence that challenges their preconceptions."
Unfortunately, pseudoskeptic groups have not heeded the warnings and advice of one of their own heros, the late Carl Sagan:
"...The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them -- the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you're sensible, you'll listen to us; and if not, to hell with you. This is nonconstructive. It does not get our message across. It condemns us to permanent minority status." - Carl Sagan
"People are not stupid. They believe things for reasons. The last way for skeptics to get the attention of bright, curious, intelligent people is to belittle or condescend or to show arrogance toward their beliefs." - Carl Sagan
"The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there's no place for it in the endeavor of science." - Carl Sagan
It would seem that pseudo-skeptics hate mysteries and unexplained phenomena, and are very uncomfortable with it. Thus they are emotional and bigoted toward it, not objective, open or logical.
As to why pseudoskeptics believe what they do, this author, who spent time undercover in a skeptical organization, might be able to shed some light on that:
- "A person who has been duped frequently in everyday life might learn by bitter experience to be cautious and wary. The reaction of those who have joined PhACT is however more dysfunctional. They have been wounded at a deeper level, to the extent that what was purported to be a valid philosophy of life, and in which they were heavily involved, turns out to be empty and useless, even damaging, in their eyes. Thus, they gravitate to what appears to them to be the ultimate non-faith-based philosophy, Science. Unfortunately, while they loudly proclaim their righteousness, based on their professed adherence to “hard science”, they do so with the one thing no true scientist can afford to possess, a closed mind. Instead of becoming scientifically minded, they become adherents of scientism, the belief system in which science and only science has all the answers to everything.
- This regrettable condition acts to preclude their unbiased consideration of phenomena on the cutting edge of science, which is not how a true scientist should behave. In fact, many “Skeptics” will not even read significantly into the literature on the subjects about which they are most skeptical. I have direct experience with this specific behavior on the part of a number of PhACT members. Initially, I attributed that behavior to just plain laziness, but lately I’ve begun to suspect that those individuals may actually have a phobia about reading material that is contrary to their own views. It seems entirely possible that they fear “contamination” from that exposure will eventually lead to (Gasp!) acceptance of the opposition’s position. Such scientifically inclined, but psychologically scarred people tend to join Skeptics’ organizations much as one might join any other support group, say, Alcoholics Anonymous. There they find comfort, consolation, and support amongst their own kind.
- Anyone who has spent much time engaging members of Skeptics’ organizations knows about their strong inclination toward ridicule and ad hominem criticism of those with differing viewpoints. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many members of PhACT have been rather offended by my position as someone who is skeptical of Skeptics. As the old adage states, “They can dish it out, but they can’t take it.”
In school, you are taught that "critical thinking" means to refute and ridicule anything that opposes the establishment or status quo, but never the status quo itself. A true skeptic can rise above that and apply skepticism and critical thought toward established orthodoxy, but a pseudo-skeptic cannot. Instead, the pseudo-skeptic follows the school system's form of "critical thinking", applying it only to those who oppose orthodoxy in defense of the status quo.
In that sense, they are in reality "establishment defenders" rather than true skeptics. That is why they NEVER challenge, criticize or scrutinize their government or any part of the establishment, including the pharmaceutical companies, CIA or FBI, even if logic, facts, evidence or moral cause dictates that they should.
To these establishment defenders, authority = truth, and as such is always blameless in their eyes. That is their religion, so hence, all their skills, talents and knowledge is used to serve their true God - orthodoxy establishment. In their view, establishment authority can do no wrong, even if they murder, traffick drugs, steal, lie, stage terrorist attacks, start wars by funding both sides, etc.
What this means is that these pseudo-skeptics or establishment defenders, which are commonly featured in the mainstream media, do not serve truth as their master. As such, they cannot always do what's right, but in fact, are willing to lie and deceive to serve their establishment masters (there are so many documented cases of this). Thus they are not "free" in any sense of the word, nor honest, which is sad.
This is why not only are they closed minded against anything to do with paranormal phenomena, but are vehemently opposed to all claims of government conspiracies as well, no matter how well supported, for it offends their "true master" (which is not truth).
Examples of famous pseudo-skeptics and establishment defenders: (Check them all out and you will see that their actions fit the above description)
- James Randi and his JREF crowd
- Michael Shermer
- CSICOP and their crowd
- Penn and Teller and their "Bullshit" show (pun intended) which is an insult to one's intelligence
- The Mythbusters
- Phil Plait and his "Bad Astronomy" folks
