Equipose: Balancing Skepticism and Objectivity

From Austin Cline for About.Com

Being skeptical means engaging claims critically and with doubts. Being objective means not pre-judging a claim and allowing for the possibility of coming to accept it as true, if good enough reasons are provided. People should be both skeptical and objective, but it's possible for them to come into conflict if one isn't careful. In the January / February 2006 Skeptical Inquirer, David Koepsell writes:

An initial standpoint of objectivity is central to the skeptical approach. In research and medical ethics, we call this standpoint “equipoise” (Macrina 2000).

Equipoise means beginning one’s research, investigation, or diagnosis without bias. Equipoise is essential so that the investigation can be pursued adequately, as bias can influence data acquisition. If an investigator begins acquiring data with an aim toward finding something in particular, then one is apt to discard some data, or misinterpret data, even potentially unconsciously, in order to confirm one’s hypothesis. There are numerous historical examples of how a lack of equipoise can influence data collection, and has done so sometimes disastrously.

Unfortunately, this sort of problem occurs without one even realizing it. Of course people have beliefs they want to be true — it’s rare that people want to be wrong, after all. This is why the scientific method relies so heavily on peer review: we may seek out confirming evidence while ignoring data that counts against our beliefs, but our peers may not. Our peers may see what we don’t see.

Of course, equipoise requires an attitude of non-dogmatism. The only thing we are dogmatic about as skeptics and scientists is the method of the sciences itself. This method necessarily begins with doubt, so that we begin a scientific investigation without a presupposition about its outcome. Skeptics or scientists who set out with the assumption that a particular thing is impossible must be open to having that assumption falsified. A dogmatic belief that a particular phenomenon is impossible is itself unscientific, because falsifiability is one of the cornerstones of scientific hypothesis. Thus, a true scientist and a good investigator begins with an objective standpoint, where he or she may have any original assumptions proven wrong by the data.

It’s easy and perhaps common for skepticism to become a bit too dogmatic about some phenomena being impossible. Given how much time has been spent on testing some of them, this can be quite understandable. Just how often do we need to look at astrology or psychics again? Nevertheless, investigators need to try to be objective and fair. Equipoise does not mean utter agnosticism. Most scientists agree that faster-than-light travel, for instance, is impossible due to well-tested and understood laws of nature. Thus, if someone claims to have invented a faster-than-light engine for space travel, scientists are rightly skeptical. Investigators of any phenomenon should be guided in their assumptions by already well-established laws of nature. So far, the laws of nature have been helpful methods of prediction, control, and understanding of the world and its forces and ought not to be lightly cast aside.

It is understandable and preferable, therefore, not to remain completely agnostic about those well established laws. On the other hand, there have been times when old assumptions about the laws of nature have required refinement and, rarely, abandonment. Therefore, our initial skepticism about claims that contradict well-established laws of nature is understandable, but is not final when we approach a phenomenon for investigation. We cannot simply dismiss such claims, despite our skepticism, and must therefore ensure our equipoise when investigating claims that seem counterintuitive or supernatural. This is perhaps the most difficult aspect: although one may be very skeptical at first, that skepticism must be tempered by the willingness to change one’s mind later on. Being skeptical and open-minded at the same time isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth the effort.