Skepticism (संशयवाद, संदेहवाद)

• संदेहवाद का प्रवर्तक David Hume था।

• David Hume ने कहा कि हर चीज पर doubt किया जा सकता है|

• Skepticism can be a healthy approach that encourages critical thinking and evidence-based beliefs. Taking a skeptical stance toward claims can help weed out erroneous or unfounded positions.

• However, taken too far, extreme skepticism can lead one to doubt nearly everything, which is not reasonable or practical. Total skepticism is essentially self-defeating since one would have to doubt even the validity of skepticism itself.

• Complete certainty is not possible or warranted for most topics. A degree of probabilistic thinking is necessary to weigh the available evidence and form reasonable beliefs and positions. We often must make the best judgments we can based on imperfect information.

• Some level of assumption and trust is inevitable to function in the world. We have to make assumptions to get through everyday life, even if we cannot prove them with absolute certainty. Extreme skepticism can cause one to doubt even basic assumptions needed for living.

• While skepticism toward extraordinary claims with little evidence is usually warranted, skepticism toward well-established, evidence-backed theories and principles may not be reasonable. An undifferentiated skepticism can downplay important differences among claims.

• Overall, a healthy dose of skepticism combined with open-mindedness, a willingness to consider evidence, and intellectual humility is often the most reasonable stance. Rigidly holding skeptical positions regardless of evidence can be as problematic as blindly accepting all claims.