--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Skepticism is not a position that you…" description: "\"Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.\" — Michael Shermer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg" --- # Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of… ![“Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.” quote by Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg) > “Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.” [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skepticism should be an ongoing inquiry, not a fixed stance taken before evidence is examined. **In simple terms:** Skepticism is a flexible mindset. Key Takeaway Keep questioning, stay open to new data. Themes critical thinking open‑mindedness science Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - debate - policy making - personal decisions Key Concepts epistemology bias confirmation bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance doubt with action? - When should you trust intuition? A Different Perspective Skepticism can become paralysis if over‑applied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Skeptics are always marked by their total lack of skepticism towards whatever position they are defending.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-madison/skeptics-are-always-marked-by-their-total-lack-of-skepticism-towards/) Steve Madison > [Skepticism is not a position; skepticism is an approach to claims, in the same way that science is not a subject but a method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-skepticism-is-an-approach-to-claims-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Skepticism is not a position; it's a process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-it-s-a-process/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I like to be on time, preferably ahead of time. It's better to be one of the first at a function as opposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-coulthard/i-like-to-be-on-time-preferably-ahead-of-time-it-s-better-to-be-one/) [David Coulthard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-coulthard/) > [We can't cross that bridge until we come to it, but I always like to lay down a pontoon ahead of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-baruch/we-can-t-cross-that-bridge-until-we-come-to-it-but-i-always-like-to/) [Bernard Baruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-baruch/) > [I don't like to practice ahead of time what I'm going to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-ferraro/i-don-t-like-to-practice-ahead-of-time-what-i-m-going-to-say/) [Geraldine Ferraro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-ferraro/) > [“You never know ahead of time what something is really going to be like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/you-never-know-ahead-of-time-what-something-is-really-going-to-be-like/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Anyone can do things ahead of time but you must wait for the time to come!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chizim/anyone-can-do-things-ahead-of-time-but-you-must-wait-for-the-time-to/) [Chizim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chizim/) > [Organizing ahead of time makes the work more enjoyable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-burrell/organizing-ahead-of-time-makes-the-work-more-enjoyable/) [Anne Burrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-burrell/) > [The things I've ventured into have always been ahead of time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poonam-dhillon/the-things-i-ve-ventured-into-have-always-been-ahead-of-time/) [Poonam Dhillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poonam-dhillon/) > [When you watch chess, you don't see the four hours that the player spends preparing for a match ahead of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hikaru-nakamura/when-you-watch-chess-you-don-t-see-the-four-hours-that-the-player/) [Hikaru Nakamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hikaru-nakamura/) > [I'm a precrastinator. Yes, that's an actual term. You know that panic you feel a few hours before a big deadline when you haven't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-grant/i-m-a-precrastinator-yes-that-s-an-actual-term-you-know-that-panic/) [Adam Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-grant/) > [It's better to be ahead of time than to be behind time and an equal pace with time is the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/it-s-better-to-be-ahead-of-time-than-to-be-behind-time-and-an-equal/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [The best way to keep something bad from happening is to see it ahead of time... and you can't see it if you refuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/the-best-way-to-keep-something-bad-from-happening-is-to-see-it-ahead/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [What I don't like is having someone saying ahead of time what I can see and what I can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-connors/what-i-don-t-like-is-having-someone-saying-ahead-of-time-what-i-can/) [Mike Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-connors/) ## More by Michael Shermer > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. No brain, no mind. We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/darwin-matters-because-evolution-matters-evolution-matters-because/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic drugs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/neuroscientist-david-comings-drew-out-the-larger-implications-of-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [One, I am skeptical of the effectiveness of nutritional supplements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/one-i-am-skeptical-of-the-effectiveness-of-nutritional-supplements/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) [Explore all 160 Michael Shermer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## More Ahead quotes > [Anybody who thinks that they should lead the country should go ahead and put their hat in the ring. I am not among them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/anybody-who-thinks-that-they-should-lead-the-country-should-go-ahead/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [If I have a problem with somebody, I go ahead and say what's on my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-hulkenberg/if-i-have-a-problem-with-somebody-i-go-ahead-and-say-what-s-on-my-mind/) [Nico Hulkenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-hulkenberg/) > [I once invested in a risky business. Quite a few people warned me not to do so, but I still went ahead and invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautam-rode/i-once-invested-in-a-risky-business-quite-a-few-people-warned-me-not/) [Gautam Rode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautam-rode/) > [“What lies behind us is nothing compared to what lies within us and ahead of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/what-lies-behind-us-is-nothing-compared-to-what-lies-within-us-and/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [In Life, We May Never Get The Same Opportunity Again, But There's Always Something Better Ahead...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/in-life-we-may-never-get-the-same-opportunity-again-but-there-s/) Pacifiersucker > [Makeup is only fun if it's occasional and capricious - just like it's a treat to have an empty day ahead, but it wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-coren-mitchell/makeup-is-only-fun-if-it-s-occasional-and-capricious-just-like-it-s-a/) [Victoria Coren Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-coren-mitchell/) > [There is no such thing as disposable time if you want to stay ahead of the game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-such-thing-as-disposable-time-if-you-want-to-stay-ahead/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm the kind of guy who comes home and checks scores for everything. I'm a sports fan in general, so I pretty much keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chadwick-boseman/i-m-the-kind-of-guy-who-comes-home-and-checks-scores-for-everything-i/) [Chadwick Boseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chadwick-boseman/) > [People are flying you places in business class. Everyone wants to take pictures of you and find out information about you. It's a freak-out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yolandi-visser/people-are-flying-you-places-in-business-class-everyone-wants-to-take/) [Yolandi Visser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yolandi-visser/) > [I wasn't putting my all into it and I was still managing to score goals, and that gave me something to dream about, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gray/i-wasn-t-putting-my-all-into-it-and-i-was-still-managing-to-score/) [Andre Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gray/) > [There's no limit to what you can accomplish, but there's always someone one step ahead of you, so it's a constant uphill battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-mary-stewart/there-s-no-limit-to-what-you-can-accomplish-but-there-s-always/) [Catherine Mary Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-mary-stewart/) > [I was never bothered about my position in the industry. If I had believed in it, I wouldn't have allowed anyone to get ahead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dharmendra/i-was-never-bothered-about-my-position-in-the-industry-if-i-had/) [Dharmendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dharmendra/) > [I don't want to look too far ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jofra-archer/i-don-t-want-to-look-too-far-ahead/) [Jofra Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jofra-archer/) > [“one who takes the first step always remains one step ahead”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabi-shaheen/one-who-takes-the-first-step-always-remains-one-step-ahead/) Rabi Shaheen > [I am not interested to sing in Bollywood. I sing for only those actors whom I admire. I sing free of cost for them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-honey-singh/i-am-not-interested-to-sing-in-bollywood-i-sing-for-only-those-actors/) [Yo Yo Honey Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-honey-singh/) Browse all 1,773 Ahead quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Shermer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ahead" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/michael-shermer-2567_ahead_skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-st_343490.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.” — Michael Shermer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Shermer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Skepticism is not a position that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```