On Belief and Skepticism
My very bright youngest daughter told me about a matrix in which our home state of Washington ranked 49th out of the 50 states. Naturally I was skeptical since the American south ranks lowest on virtually every educational measurement, and I expressed this skepticism directly. It turns out that my daughter was correct and here is the source:
“Washington is the nation’s No. 1 STEM economy and has the highest concentration of STEM jobs in the United States. Yet, the state ranks 49th out of 50 states states in the mismatch between the skills required for available jobs and individuals with those skills.” http://www.partnership4learning.org/priorities/stem.php
Of course I didn’t tell my daughter I didn’t believe her, but that I would be very surprised if Washington ranked so low in some such matrix. In retrospect what I should have said was “since you are very bright and read a lot and since there are so many different measurements that can be taken there is probably some measurement by which any given state ranks first in the middle or last.” Perhaps I expressed too much confidence. Interestingly though, this measurement says more about how many high tech jobs there are in the Seattle area than anything about the state’s specific educational shortcomings.
However skepticism is important in a world in which people are so credulous. In fact it is the basis of critical thinking. I can’t simply accept something someone says because I like them or even love them. Claims stand and fall on the evidence and if you have background beliefs about the education in the US you will know that on virtually any measurement the American south will be last. (As they will be near the top on measures of violence, crime divorce, and church attendance.) Without a healthy skepticism we will believe virtually anything, but we have a sacred obligation to believe only those things for which there is good evidence. And that’s because our ideas affect other people.
And the reason I am a skeptic is not because I want to give people a hard time or don’t trust them but because I want to know what’s true. I have a truth fetish. If we don’t care about the truth we become credulous; and if we believe too easily others will lie to us with impunity. So many of the world’s troubles are caused by lying, and believing lies told to us.
