On the same note as the previous post, I think I could learn to be less dismissive, to remember that there are good times and bad times to be skeptical.
Recently a co-worker of mine told me about how he drank a single cup of coffee and it resulted in a nosebleed for hours. This same co-worker had made a number of highly questionable claims about health in previous conversations and he was prone to repeating scientific falsities that he had heard in the popular media or secondhand. So, I thought, this sounds implausible, but I will just listen and nod like I usually do.
Sure enough, later I looked into it, and it turns out that caffeine can cause people to have uncontrollable nosebleeds! I immediately felt guilty for dismissing my co-workers testimony. I was glad that I had not directly contradicted his claim, and I had been supportive and displayed interest in his story. But I still felt my skeptical attitude had been a little condescending. "Trust but verify" prevailed. Skepticism is a great tool for finding the truth but it should not prevent you from giving a person a fair hearing.
pseudoisaac 