Dr. Steven Novella

This is the fiction.

So with anti-vaxxers, it's not a knowledge deficit problem.

The problem is that they're full of active misinformation and a very compelling narrative.

This system is not for us.

It's not built for people like me.

You can't just give them correct information.

You have to provide for them an alternate narrative for understanding the world.

So first I have to define skepticism a little bit because the term has been co-opted and it's used in different ways.

All it means is thinking about how you come to conclusions about what to believe in and what's probably true, what isn't true.

You know, what philosophers would call metacognition, right?

You're thinking about your thinking process.

You have some way of evaluating evidence.

You don't just believe things or go with the flow.

And this is a lifelong journey.

Is that the opposite of being gullible?

It's the opposite of being gullible.

Absolutely.

That's the best way to put it.

Some people think of it as cynical or denying the mainstream, whatever that happens to be.

But no, it's just the opposite of being gullible.