"You Don't Have to Cheat to Get It Wrong!

Bob Steiner

When we skeptics speak, especially from a stage or the front of a crowded room, we find that our skeptical views are frequently challenged.

How do we reply to those challenges and inquiries?

STEP ONE: When we started out, we stumbled with our replies. Our thinking was skeptical and logical, but we lacked specific information for quick replies. Being bright students, we quickly learned that we had better do our homework.

STEP TWO: Armed with information, our replies became detailed and specific. We learned to cite pertinent scientific studies, as well as examples from the history of science. We learned to think on our feet. We did rather well with this approach.

STEP THREE: Somewhere along the line we concluded that a response that is brief, and is also snappy, pithy, humorous, and/or challenging beats hands down the elaborate, tedious, detailed reply we had used in Step Two.

Three examples should suffice to make the point..."

A lire absolument,

Jean-François

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