Hi Cat;
A good, healthy sense of skepticism is something that I personally encourage. Yes, we could be lying to everybody. Double check our facts, follow the references to the sources and see if they say what we claim they say. Read the Detecting BS pages, and apply what you find there to our claims.
But, also apply it to the claims made by other people. Hold them to the same standard. Make them prove to you what they say. Remember that the person making the positive claim bears the burden of proof. So, if you have someone saying "Nibiru is on a collision course with Earth", they have to show that to be true, which would involve them proving first that Nibiru exists, and that it is in an orbit that would bring it near the Earth.
Another way to filter the claims is to look for the motive. If you go to various "2012" sites on the internet, what do you see? Ads. Ads, ads, ads. Every page, ads. Buy this book, or that video. "I prove it in my book, which you can buy on Amazon", etc., etc.
Look around here.
There are no ads. We make no money from this website. There are no ads, there is no "donate" button, there is no way for anybody to generate revenue. We did that for a reason: We're not trying to sell you anything.
So, take that skeptical attitude, nourish it, feed it, and use it to filter everything you read, including this site.
cat (guest) 06 Nov 2009 12:22