I value close scrutiny, and examination of my findings, I encourage
others to explore anything I say, and determine if it is the truth for
themselves. In fact, I encourage it, and will provide all of the data
necessary to facilitate it, I've even recently sent off orgonite to
scientists for examination - and have heard back remarkable results. I
love it! Anyway.. Most Skeptics I know are some of the most limited,
closed minded, and dogmatic individuals I've ever met.
Let's not forget, the source of something doesn't always have relevance
for what it means today, so the history of "Skepticism" doesn't
necessarily apply to what it means today. Giving someone the middle
finger in the 17th century doesn't mean what it means today. During
WWII the phrase "Whole Nine Yards", meant something very different than
it does today.
Let's examine the dictionary on "Skepticism"..
Main Entry: *ism*
Pronunciation: \?i-z?m\
Function: /noun/
Etymology: /-ism/
Date: 1680
*1* *:* a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory
*2* *:* an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief
<we all have got to come to grips with our ism/s/ --- Joycelyn Elders>
Line number one the key word is "Distinctive", which means "Specific
Style" or "Different from accepted meaning". For example if someone has
a giant nose, twice the size of anyone else, he has a "Distinctive"
nose. So based on that, line would would probably mean that an "ism" is
a extrapoliation of something - that is - to 'overblow' something, or to
take something a bit too far. Hence, "Fundamentalism" or "Islamicism"
are basically an accepted norm, taken to 'Distinctive' (overblown)
levels far beyond the intention. The second line is fairly self
explanatory, and relates to the first quite closely. That is, 'isms'
tend to be limiting, discriminatory, and oppressive. Such as "Communism"
or "Capitalism", or "Corporatism".
Good healthy investigation, contemplation, and anecdotal testing are the
trademarks of a wise, intelligent, and discerning person. Skepticism is
the trademark of a zealot, and usually anyone that is into skepticism,
is also into some other 'ism', they collect them, like beer cans or
baseball caps. The owner of this list is someone I consider to have a
healthy, investigative, and contemplating mind, willing to try things,
discard what doesn't work, and keep what does, but open enough to
actually try - a mark of a genius. A /skepticism /person would quickly
discount virtually anything, and everything. Dr. Hawkin's says all
skeptic sites calibrate below 200, or below the level of truth, and that
skepticism itself calibrates under 200 as a 'doctrine'.
My father in-law is a huge skeptic, nothing shakes him, even the most
miraculous events he always finds an 'explanation' to suit his
skepticism. It's incredibly limiting, but more than that, it is
DANGEROUS because discernment is lost, and power is handed over to those
that aren't skeptics, and are willing to 'do something'. A silly
example, I was over at my inlaws for dinner, he started cooking
hamburger, I could smell it was ROTTED from the other room, I mentioned
this. He said "You can't know that, it's still red which means it is
fine!".. Well Mr. Skeptic, they squirt Carbon Dioxide on meat to keep it
red, even after it rots. But no convincing the skeptic, and chomp down
the rotted meat they all did, and sick they all got.
Such is the life of an ism' skeptic.
Jason R Eaton wrote:
...wow, what great science.
Let's thus toss out electromagnetism, abstractionism, aphorism....
Actually, the word skepticism is a very revealing word with an
interesting history and word origin.
The word ism actually means doctrine, system, manner, condition, at
and characteristic.
The history of the word skeptic started with philosophy of the Pyrrho
of Elis, who fought dogmatism by showing reasons for doubting it, but
which today is the position that absolute knowledge is impossible but
that science can succeed with relative certainty. The word comes from
the latin word scepticus and Greek skeptikos "skeptic" from
skeptesthai "to examine closely". This word comes from a the root,
PIE *spek-/*spok- "look, see" (i.e. spectator, inspect, and even spice
). Spice via the French version of Latin species, which originally
meant "kind, type", but later came to mean "wares" and then "spice".
Finally, the [p] and [k] traded places in Greek (metathesis), where we
find skopein "to see", like in some great words words telescope,
microscope, and the new (slang) verb to scope out.
Thus, the word skepticism literally can be translated to mean: To
examine closely in an orderly manner.
Nice word that. In my experience, 9-10 People who don't like the word
skepticism or skeptics usually don't because the things they say fall
apart quickly under "close examination".
Your experience may be different though.
Best Regards,
Jason
