A truly skeptical approach involves being willing to doubt claims until evidence is provided and then accepting that conclusion as provisionally true.

“So there's some people who don't know that boundary between when the skepticism is healthy and when it's just wrong.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson rejects the notion of a government cover-up regarding aliens, noting that such a large-scale secret would likely have been leaked by now.

“So many people who are sure that the US government is a big bloated inefficient bureaucracy simultaneously will declare that it's masterminding a major coverup when thousands of people are in on it and keeping a secret.”

Researchers must rigorously test their hypotheses by actively trying to prove them wrong rather than seeking only evidence that confirms them.

“your assumption should be that you're wrong that somehow your equipment is fooling yourself and now you try and go out to demonstrate that's true and you do everything you can to prove it”