The Onion

There can be no doubts when one sees all the layers to the core.
Drawing a Woman from the Inside Out

To Be A Skeptic

Barry Williams:

I'm reading a novel I picked up at a remaindered table on the Gold Coast a few weeks back. Called 'Slick', by Daniel Price, it's about a ruthless PR flack in the US. Nothing special about the story but one passage struck me as being apt. The protagonist is talking to a young female assistant.

She: "I'm a total cynic. I admit it."
He "Don't be. Cynics make the worst publicists. Skeptics, on the other hand, make the best ones."
S: "What's the difference?"
H: "Let me putt it this way. If I told you George W Bush had a 160 IQ, would you believe me?"
S: "Uh, no."
H: "What if I told you he had an 85 IQ and the White House has spent millions of dollars keeping that information quiet. Would you believe me?"
S: "Probably."
H: That's the difference between a cynic and a skeptic. Cynics blindly accept any information that confirms their lack of faith in humanity. Skeptics question everything, even the bad news.. Cynics are easy for the media to control. Skeptics aren't."

Which seems pretty accurate to me.