Skepticism+Ideas+Grit

A number of people seem to have objected to my post quoting Carl Sagan about skepticism (hi Paramita!) and I appreciate the comments. However, I wanted to clarify why I liked the quotation. I think in order to be successful in science three things are necessary:

1. A healthy skepticism
2. An original idea
3. Quite a bit of grit and moxie

I find that too often, people consciously or unconsciously stop at (A). In fact some people make an entire career doing (A) but it’s not one that I can personally appreciate.

What we need more of is skepticism coupled with new ideas, not pure skepticism.