"When the music changes, so does the dance." African proverb.
True scepticism is fundamental to the advance of science. The probing of the sceptic is needed to test the veracity of any idea. The path of science is littered with ideas that have failed ancient tests of science such as reproducibility, predicability and Occam's Razor, "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem".
Within the litter are the gems of ideas that are yet to gain widespread acceptance and at times it can be difficult to distinguish true science from false. Cold fusion and Biodynamics come to mind as ideas still subject to legitimate scrutiny. Nebulous ideas like Astrology may remain accepted by many even when thoroughly discredited by dispassionate scrutiny.
When an idea works, its path to acceptability may shorten but not always. Spintronics moved from theoretical physics into everyday components in less than twenty years. Evolution by Natural Selection is still being actively resisted by a vocal minority after more than a hundred years.
At some time, rejection of a widely held scientific idea moves from legitimate scepticism to unproductive denial, even counterproductive denial. The boundary in a social sense may be hard to define but at the level of the individual, it is less ambiguous.
Ask yourself the question; Do I want to test this idea to see if can withstand scrutiny?
Answer yes and call yourself a sceptic.
Then ask the question; Do I reject this idea out of hand?
