Another writer again agreed with all my generalities, but said that
as an inveterate skeptic I have closed my mind to the truth. Most
notably I have ignored the evidence for an Earth that is six thousand
years old. Well, I haven't ignored it; I considered the purported
evidence and *then* rejected it. There is a difference, and this is
a difference, we might say, between prejudice and postjudice.
Prejudice is making a judgment before you have looked at the facts.
Postjudice is making a judgment afterwards. Prejudice is terrible,
in the sense that you commit injustices and you make serious mistakes.
Postjudice is not terrible. You can't be perfect of course; you may
make mistakes also. But it is permissible to make a judgment after you
have examined the evidence. In some circles it is even encouraged.
Carl Sagan, "The Burden of Skepticism"
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