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ionelvAsk yourself these questions about any grand claim:
0. Can the core or the underpinnings of the claim be explained any other way, especially if the other ways are easier to verify?
1. Are there easily verifiable direct ways you yourself (or a trusted source) can verify claim?
2. Are most core claim verifications in the past or distant future and non-repeatable?
3. Does the acceptance of the claim demand drastic life choices (even if most claim promoters argue that the changes are not hard, worth it, were born into it, downplay claim weaknesses and overemphasize its purported benefits or are very good at mimicking or internalizing acceptance)?
4. Are most of the claim’s supporting written evidence heavily editorialized by a self-appointed non-authoritative bunch and usually done with poor record-keeping and often incorporates orally-transmitted folklore with vague chains of transmission?
5. Does the claim have self-contradictory parts, edited-out parts, plagiarized parts, half-truths, outright untruths, exaggerated or hyperbolic accounts or divergent editions?
6. Does the claim resemble a common scam (e.g. hard sell, long con) in the way it sells or presents itself?
7. Are there heavy appeals to an authority that might be overselling its competence?
8. Have past and present adherents of the claim often twisted the claim for their own enrichment, as useful idiots or to inflict great harm on others while cloaking themselves in the unimpugnable authority granted by the claim?
PS: Even if the claim is partially or completely fictional, do the claims benefits largely outweigh the negatives, and is still worth preserving in part as a useful tool despite its flaws?
PS2: Am I aware of most common logical fallacies, scams, razors, falsifiability, Russell's teapot, FSM? Do I see any resemblance whatsoever between cargo cults and major religions as practiced by the masses or am I aware that humans and their purported uniqueness are not really that distinct from animals but merely a continuation, a predictable evolution of deeply ingrained survival mechanisms?
0. Can the core or the underpinnings of the claim be explained any other way, especially if the other ways are easier to verify?
1. Are there easily verifiable direct ways you yourself (or a trusted source) can verify claim?
2. Are most core claim verifications in the past or distant future and non-repeatable?
3. Does the acceptance of the claim demand drastic life choices (even if most claim promoters argue that the changes are not hard, worth it, were born into it, downplay claim weaknesses and overemphasize its purported benefits or are very good at mimicking or internalizing acceptance)?
4. Are most of the claim’s supporting written evidence heavily editorialized by a self-appointed non-authoritative bunch and usually done with poor record-keeping and often incorporates orally-transmitted folklore with vague chains of transmission?
5. Does the claim have self-contradictory parts, edited-out parts, plagiarized parts, half-truths, outright untruths, exaggerated or hyperbolic accounts or divergent editions?
6. Does the claim resemble a common scam (e.g. hard sell, long con) in the way it sells or presents itself?
7. Are there heavy appeals to an authority that might be overselling its competence?
8. Have past and present adherents of the claim often twisted the claim for their own enrichment, as useful idiots or to inflict great harm on others while cloaking themselves in the unimpugnable authority granted by the claim?
PS: Even if the claim is partially or completely fictional, do the claims benefits largely outweigh the negatives, and is still worth preserving in part as a useful tool despite its flaws?
PS2: Am I aware of most common logical fallacies, scams, razors, falsifiability, Russell's teapot, FSM? Do I see any resemblance whatsoever between cargo cults and major religions as practiced by the masses or am I aware that humans and their purported uniqueness are not really that distinct from animals but merely a continuation, a predictable evolution of deeply ingrained survival mechanisms?
