Doubt and critical thinking: questioning claims

Life is full of unknowns; how can we be sure of anything? Doubt towards a claim is a feeling of uncertainty, and a way of critical thinking.

Many times, we need to evaluate an unsupported claim, when there is no to little proof.

If a claim like the earth is flat conflicts with other claims we believe, like the earth being a globe.

In the case of claims we cannot accept nor reject, we have to look at the evidence supporting those claims. We believe most experts when they say the earth is a globe, because experts usually have more knowledge about the particular claim than others.

A long time ago, everyone believed that the earth was flat, but since we went to space and scientist began seeing some patterns that proved the earth was indeed a globe, and therefore not flat, almost everyone now believes the earth is a globe. There are still doubters around the world, most of them has been affected by other flat earthers or social media. Therefore, we should think critical of claims made by people around us, because we usually trust and believe what these people say.

The main reason for why we doubt a claim is if it contradicts with other claims we believe, it contradicts with the majority of experts or there has been some proof that have led us to doubt that specific claim. It is in our nature as humans to believe what other people say, therefore we most likely believe the claims of the majority of people.