I have a claim to make, which I am ready to substantiate. I believe that skepticism is a healthy attitude to have in life. I do not mean denialism, the philosophy espoused by people who are “skeptical” of 9/11 or the Holocaust. This kind of skepticism is more akin to faith: believing in something which flies in the face of evidence. By skepticism, I mean reserving judgment until the evidence is in. It is easy to make a claim but, before anyone believes it, they should ask to see the evidence for it. And the greater the claim, the greater the evidence needed to swallow that pill.

Skepticism makes it easy to reject any claim based on faith or magic. Over time, a skeptic begins to recognize the lingo of faith-based claims, such as the misuse of the word “quantum”. This attitude of “if it quacks like a quack…