As I've mentioned before, I've been reading about Skepticism, the classic Greek philosophy that advises you to hold off of judgements. This is generally good advice, but I think the philosophy on the whole is quite dangerous.
The Skeptical philosophy reminds me of Robert Anton Wilson's philosophy of never thinking you know the answer to anything. Does God exist? Wilson didn't know. Do magic spells exist? Wilson didn't know, although he liked to dabble in such things. I admire Robert Anton Wilson quite a bit. He co-wrote the Illuminati Trilogy, as well as many other great books. He's one of my favorite people.
I'd like to compare Wilson against someone else I admire: James "The Amazing" Randi. Randi doesn't hesitate. Does God exist? No. Does magic exist? No. And not just no, but Randi is clearly willing to bet his money and reputation on it. Compared to Randi, Wilson seems too susceptible to bullshit, and his refusal to take sides seems like intellectual cowardice.
Robert Anton Wilson seems like the Greek-style Skeptic. James "The Amazing" Randi is the prototypical example of the modern-day skeptic. I like the modern version better. It's simply more useful.
Let's take as an example: Global Warming. This is the crisis of our time. Scientists know it, and they've tried to warn us. But it's just too easy to sow doubt and confusion, and the public no longer knows what to believe. Who would the Greek-style Skeptics side with? Probably no one. I know who the modern skeptics would side with: the scientists. I don't know about you, but I'm going to support the philosophy that would try to save the world.
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