Podcast: Be skeptical of health skeptics: When debunking goes too far

By Cameron English and ChuckDinerstein —
Debunking misinformation is a big business. For every health "influencer" selling a supplement on Instagram, there's probably a doppelganger with a Ph.D. making a lot of money arguing against supplementation. That's not inherently wrong—unscientific nonsense should be confronted. But when skepticism becomes our identity, we may reflexively dismiss a conclusion before we've considered all the data. Veteran science journalist Matt Fuchts explains how to avoid the ditch on both sides of the road: hyper-skepticism on one, gullibility on the other.
Image by ACSH using AI

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The logic behind that posture is itself worth questioning. People who brand themselves as skeptics often try to align their approach with the scientific method, offering the rationale that skepticism is essential in science. But scientific skepticism is not about reflexively rejecting health claims. It’s about being skeptical of your own hypothesis, whether the hypothesis is that something is beneficial, harmful or does nothing at all.

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