Evaluating Information

christopher hitchens essence of independant mind

Nobody believes everything they’re told.

It’s easy to make a statement like that, but we’re making assumptions if we believe it’s true.

Maybe we trust it because it fits what we already believe. Maybe we trust it because we trust the person saying it. Maybe we trust it because it sounds so sure of itself.

If we reflexively question a sentence like that, say, “Wait a minute, let’s take a good look at this first,” we’re being skeptical by nature.

It probably means we know a lot about the three aspects in this section.