why Skeptics like that have Increasingly Widespread?

I wonder why People that skeptical to God, Aliens, Angels, Demons, Cryptids, Ethereal Creatures, Ancient High-Tech Civilizations, Super Advanced Technologies that kept Underground, and Conspiracies(unless when people behind alleged plot is Mafia or Muslim Extremists) have Increasingly Widespread across the Globe?

[edit on 20-3-2010 by masonicon]

[edit on 20-3-2010 by masonicon]

Extraordinary claims requiring evidence and all that...

The fact is there ARE mafiosos and there ARE Muslim extremists so it is a very tangible thing to believe. Are there aliens/God/demons/NWO/sasquatch/matrix... who knows, certainly not anyone who claims to...

Two primary options:

1) We're becoming, on average, a lot smarter and a lot more resistant to unfounded concepts

2) We're becoming a lot more easily dupable by TPTB and Satan and all them folk.

My preferred option:

Human dogma changes over time, and we're entering a period of what Charles Fort would've called "The New Dominant" -- as all replacing dogmas should be called -- where we doubt and skepticise everything. Robert Anton Wilson would've agreed; homo neophile is becoming homo neophobe again, and a new New Dominant will arise after this one becomes universal. It's cyclical.

Originally posted by Ridhya
Extraordinary claims requiring evidence and all that...

The fact is there ARE mafiosos and there ARE Muslim extremists so it is a very tangible thing to believe. Are there aliens/God/demons/NWO/sasquatch/matrix... who knows, certainly not anyone who claims to...

All the evidence of Extraordinary Claims are Simply Ignored even when they Plentiful

reply to post by masonicon


I'm glad to see a rise in skepticism.

Skepticism isn't a blind rejection of evidence, it is merely a healthy level of doubt. Skepticism is necessary to wade through the BS and find the truth. Without doubt we would just blindly believe all sorts of nonsense without any evidence.

We'd still be believing in blood-letting and spontaneous generation if it wasn't for scientific or skeptical minds putting claims to the test. Without testing that which is claimed it is impossible to know if it is true and if there isn't evidence to back it up than to believe it is often fool-hardy.

There are those who believe in those things because they believe evidence will some day be found to support their claims. Evidence found while being skeptical is always going to be better than "evidence" believed on its own merit, accepting just anything that comes along and claiming it proves your claims doesn't work.

In order to find the truth you have to throw out the BS and this is coming from a guy who believes in aliens and several cryptids

It'd be great to just be able to believe on blind faith but for me ignorance isn't bliss, I'd rather see the evidence proving it true than have to go on believing it based on the wild claims and pseudoscience of others.

[edit on 20-3-2010 by Titen-Sxull]

[I've had second thoughts- I was slightly off-topic. Wrong kind of sceptism.
I'll remove this contribution and find a more appropriate place for it. sorry, OP]

[edit on 20-3-2010 by DISRAELI]

Originally posted by masonicon

Originally posted by Ridhya
Extraordinary claims requiring evidence and all that...

The fact is there ARE mafiosos and there ARE Muslim extremists so it is a very tangible thing to believe. Are there aliens/God/demons/NWO/sasquatch/matrix... who knows, certainly not anyone who claims to...

All the evidence of Extraordinary Claims are Simply Ignored even when they Plentiful

Show me some of the plentiful evidence for one of the things in your first post.

If I understand your post correctly (which is something of a challenge, I assume English is not your first language) - you are asking why are people becoming MORE skeptical?

I do not see any such trend, the world is still full of superstitions - whether its Christianity, or Islam or whatever - I don't see a trend, either increasing or decreasing.

Additionally, many of the things you put on your list tend to be either exclusive, or inclusive.

For example those who believe in god tend to believe in the devil, demons, angels and so on, and exclude aliens.

Alien believers may exclude god from their beliefs.

While personally I entertain the possibility of everything listed, I am skeptical of all of it - I look only at evidence, and even personal experience is not proof.

For example, if I saw a spacecraft land, and an ET got out and shook my hand, that would not prove to me that ET's exist - but its extremely strong evidence in support of the theory.

To put that example in perspective, I should note that I consider the existence of humanity and the universe in general to be a theory only - my life experiences and observations don't prove that even I myself exist.

If more people are becoming skeptical, then I think it is a good thing - but I don't see it.

Originally posted by Amagnon
If I understand your post correctly (which is something of a challenge, I assume English is not your first language) - you are asking why are people becoming MORE skeptical?

I do not see any such trend, the world is still full of superstitions - whether its Christianity, or Islam or whatever - I don't see a trend, either increasing or decreasing.

Additionally, many of the things you put on your list tend to be either exclusive, or inclusive.

For example those who believe in god tend to believe in the devil, demons, angels and so on, and exclude aliens.

Alien believers may exclude god from their beliefs.

While personally I entertain the possibility of everything listed, I am skeptical of all of it - I look only at evidence, and even personal experience is not proof.

For example, if I saw a spacecraft land, and an ET got out and shook my hand, that would not prove to me that ET's exist - but its extremely strong evidence in support of the theory.

To put that example in perspective, I should note that I consider the existence of humanity and the universe in general to be a theory only - my life experiences and observations don't prove that even I myself exist.

If more people are becoming skeptical, then I think it is a good thing - but I don't see it.

There's skeptics that unlike other skeptics skeptical to both Gods and Aliens

Originally posted by Solasis
Two primary options:

1) We're becoming, on average, a lot smarter and a lot more resistant to unfounded concepts

2) We're becoming a lot more easily dupable by TPTB and Satan and all them folk.

My preferred option:

Human dogma changes over time, and we're entering a period of what Charles Fort would've called "The New Dominant" -- as all replacing dogmas should be called -- where we doubt and skepticise everything. Robert Anton Wilson would've agreed; homo neophile is becoming homo neophobe again, and a new New Dominant will arise after this one becomes universal. It's cyclical.

There's expense when we become smarter: our ability to think for ourselves

Originally posted by masonicon
There's skeptics that unlike other skeptics skeptical to both Gods and Aliens

MY GOD
Gods AND aliens?!?!
Being skeptical is a good thing, I thought someone on ATS would know to question ALL information that you read.

Originally posted by masonicon

Originally posted by Solasis
Two primary options:

1) We're becoming, on average, a lot smarter and a lot more resistant to unfounded concepts

2) We're becoming a lot more easily dupable by TPTB and Satan and all them folk.

My preferred option:

Human dogma changes over time, and we're entering a period of what Charles Fort would've called "The New Dominant" -- as all replacing dogmas should be called -- where we doubt and skepticise everything. Robert Anton Wilson would've agreed; homo neophile is becoming homo neophobe again, and a new New Dominant will arise after this one becomes universal. It's cyclical.

There's expense when we become smarter: our ability to think for ourselves

So you're saying the more intelligent we become, the less we think for ourselves? I think you mean the more MSM the people watch, along with general tv, that might make people think less for themselves, but being intelligent has no bearing on how much you think for yourself.

Skepticism might be growing in the western world. But religion and superstition still reign on a global level.