What is an informed skeptic?

In Tim Ferriss' view, being an informed skeptic means having a thorough understanding of the subjects you're skeptical about. This involves being able to read, comprehend, and critically evaluate scientific studies, rather than relying on simplified journalistic interpretations or casual summaries. Tim stresses the importance of understanding study design, including aspects like confidence intervals, powering, and the nuances of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) 1.

Ferriss also recommends resources like Peter Tim's series of blog posts on studying studies and his own podcast episode with Eric Vance about the placebo effect to deepen one's understanding of scientific research and skepticism 1.