And yet, the chief deficiency I see in the sceptical movement is in its polarization: Us v. 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; an if not, you're beyond redemption. This is unconstructive. It does not get the message across. It condemns the sceptics to permanent minority status; whereas, a compassionate approach that from the beginning acknowledges the human roots of pseudoscience and superstition might be much more widely accepted. Carl Sagan
About This Quote

Scepticism is a valuable quality in a student. It can help them to think critically and be able to distinguish facts from opinion. It can help them to distinguish between good and bad science, and to avoid the dangers of pseudoscience and superstition. However, this type of scepticism can also become a barrier to education.

Philosopher David Stove once said that “student scepticism is not the opposite of belief; it is itself a belief system with its own criteria of truth.” The problem is that many people today do not see the distinction between genuine scientific scepticism and anti-scientific scepticism with their often strongly held personal beliefs. Scepticism used properly can help us all – but we need to be careful with how we practise it.

Source: The Demonhaunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark

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