"I never guess. It is a shocking habit,--destructive to the logical faculty."
--Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four
I remember when I was a Junior in high school I worked for a vitamin company. During this time, I just knew all the products we sold were the panacea for every illness, problem and disease in the whole wide world. Along with this, I was involved in cleanses and all kinds of "healthy" diets. I remember doing a prune juice cleanse because the recipe online assured me of a healthy glow in my skin, a happy liver and a happy life-- and all I had to do was live off of nothing but prune juice for three days! Then one day, I was trying to sell my sister a product of some sort and she wisely told me that there was no such thing as a cure-all product. What a rude awakening that was for me--it was like the day when I found out that Santa Claus wasn't real.
Since then, I've become less radical. When making decisions, with health or anything, our rule of thumb is to go to the source. Over the years I've seen many people fall into fad traps. I wonder what it would be like if we thought more critically before clinging to certain ideas or products? What if we looked at things through a magnified glass as the great Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson did?
In other words, skepticism is awesome! Let's use it every day.
References
https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/introduction
