Well, I would like to encourage us to try and learn more about the subjects we make claims over. I know people who make ridiculously large claims about things that they don't know more about other than, "I briefly heard them say something like that on the news." Just so you know, Judge Judy does not accept hearsay!
I really like the quote he used:
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan
I support this full on, that if we are to make any claim at all, we need to be able to back it up sufficiently. If we can't, then we need to start figuring out how. Since I am still young though, I won't judge anyone who can't yet, but I will criticize anyone who refuses to try. For instance, many Christians are known for making huge claims about their religion. The only problem with this is that most refuse to look into why they believe these things and say, "Because God made it so." I have a problem with that. If I am going to make a claim, I want to at least start figuring out why, and if I can't find compelling proof or even evidence, then it must be rejected.
The important thing to note is in this quote from the Sherlock Holmes books: "..when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Not that we blindly trust random things, but that we narrow it down to the truth, based on what we know is not. If we can't eliminate something, we can't be certain, and we should admit that there is room for further investigation, as a good scientist would.
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