Skepticism
Good skeptics…
are curious, inquiring, polite, will overstretch themselves to understand the other’s point of view, non-judgemental, able to percieve their own limitations and a great benefit to anyone. They have a wonderful motive to expand and challenge their own understanding of the world. These people often feel open hearted, compassionate and warm. Personally I love good challenging conversations with someone who really takes pains to understand the subject they are talking about – these conversations generally feel fruitful, interesting and promote new ideas and better ways of doing things. As a result my practice grows, evolves and becomes more robust.
Bad skeptics…
are guilty of hypocrisy, blinkered vision, bullying, absolutism, fundamentalist rationality, abuse, unable to see their own limitations, use of offensive and rhetorical language, labelling of groups of people to fit a convenient model, lack of curiosity about the subject they are skeptical about, lack of empathy, rudeness, brushing over inconvenient facts, selective use of data and nit-pick to support their pre-determined case. These people tend to be boring, repetative and isolate themselves from the percieved ‘enemy’, often using a patronising and arrogant stance. Often one can detect undercurrents of anger, frustation and egoism in the language used.
The wikipedia links to pseudorationalism and pseudoskepticism are relevant here. On a positive and progressive note, there is plenty of support to develop emotional intelligence alongside healthy self aware rationality.