Being a skeptic at work
Here’s a question – are you a skeptic in the workplace?
Let me give a little background. I am a librarian, and with that comes the responsibility of removing my personal beliefs/opinions from what I do. When I answer questions for customers, I have to be sure to give them appropriate information without interpreting it for them. If I remove books from our collection, I have to make those decisions based on circulation data, date of publication, and how much additional information is available in the subject area – and NOT on whether or not the author is a crackpot. And when I talk to customers face-to-face, I have to be careful not to show my feelings toward either side of an issue. I think that I do this well, but it can become difficult in certain situations.
For example: A customer calls in and asks about Kinoki Foot Pads. The skeptic in me wants to tell this customer all about how ridiculous it is to even consider for a second that these pads do anything for your health. However, I have to be careful to consider what is being asked. If they just want to know how to buy them, I will give them all the information they need to purchase this product. Sure, I might not agree with the purchase, but I can’t make that decision for them. But if the question is about how they work… well then, that’s different. Unfortunately, even when I’ve had the opportunity to tell someone about a hoax or a product that has been shown not to work, they often ignore the facts I give them and continue to believe whatever they want to believe.
How do you handle skeptic issues in the workplace? Do you have the freedom to express your opinions to coworkers or customers? And if you are in a position similar to mine, have you ever had a time that you’ve really struggled to maintain your neutrality?
2 comments
That must be so hard having to be very neutral. I am not good at that and tend to talk without thinking first. So I wouldn’t be able to do your job.
At my job, I only have to deal with co-workers, no customers, so I don’t have to censor myself as much. I try really hard to not talk about skeptic issues too much at work. We have a couple creationists and a couple people who are into alternative medicine. When we talk about it, we all end up frustrated so we tend to avoid talking about those topics. I just tend to try to focus on what we have in common and keep it light.
I don’t talk about it unless specifically asked. It’s known that I run this here little group, but I don’t think there’s a very clear understanding in general of what “skeptics” are all about. At my last job, I would have probably said even less.
As difficult as it would be to remain so neutral, I admire you for taking your role as a librarian so seriously. If all were like you, we wouldn’t have problems with librarians who try to censor books in their collection because they disagree with them. Even though you couldn’t talk directly to the Foot Pad person, the fact that he/she is looking for research information is hopeful he/she will work it out on his/her own.
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