A musing Beam

When it is okay to be skeptical? I run into this question all the time.  In which areas should you be skeptical, and where should skepticism not be allowed?  Science, religion, public discourse, family relations, friend relations .... Let's start with a couple of terms: Fact: Whether something did or did not happen in a certain way at a certain time, etc. Opinion: "I think that X" or "I believe X" or "I feel X." In my opinion, the level of skepticism should remain high for facts and low for opinions.  While it is technically a fact that Bessie feels X (maybe she is lying and doesn't really), I'm virtually always willing to take her at her word, without trying to investigate further, say through a lie-detector mechanism.  Facts offered, however, need some proof to be persuasive.  The more unintuitive or important the fact, the more proof it needs.  "The grass outside is green" will generally need little proof ... unless you