And when someone can say “But I’ve seen it with my own eyes!” then their mind suddenly has a natural defense mechanism against all self-skepticism.

All in all, the easiest person to fool is yourself. It’s much wiser to lend our credibility to the experts over oneself; this is the humble and enlightened path.

I think the most important thing to take away from this is recognizing just how little we truly know, in the most genuine sense of the word, as sole persons.

There is a fundamental and qualitative difference between firsthand and secondhand knowledge. Firsthand knowledge is that which you have verified yourself through observation and testing. Secondhand knowledge is information which you have not confirmed yourself, but have indirectly learned from an external source (such as through text, verbal testimony, and even video).

This doesn’t necessarily mean secondhand knowledge is invalid or without purpose. The scientific community hinges upon both firsthand knowledge (independent and repeatable testing) as well as secondhand knowledge (journals, publications, etc)…and clearly the scientific community has accomplished more than enough to demonstrate that secondhand knowledge can be both trust worthy and accurate.

Never the less, there is a very real difference between knowing something is true because you personally have done the observation/testing and hearing something is true from someone else…even if ultimately the information you’ve heard is accurate.

Unfortunately there is no way to “inherit” firsthand knowledge from a secondhand source, regardless of how established, trust worthy, or well-equipped that source is. Again, this doesn’t mean secondhand knowledge is somehow less true than firsthand knowledge, only that believing in secondhand knowledge requires a level of assumptiveness not required with firsthand knowledge.

And therein lies the heart of the matter. The problem isn’t that people assume so much of what they believe, it’s that they are unaware that their beliefs are assumptions — assumptions in things they have read or heard but have never verified themselves. In all honestly, there is no practical way for every individual to scientifically confirm every scientific principle themselves. That doesn’t mean those principles are untrue, just that believing in them is, by the very definition of the word, an “assumption”. And these assumptions are what creates both those which are overly skeptical, and those who are not skeptical enough. In the end, its the same problem…putting TOO MUCH faith in that which you truly do not know.

Take care
Matt