Skepticism

Skepticism is a philosophical position in which a person bases their knowledge and beliefs on their interpretation of independent evidence.

To be skeptical is widely interpreted as being "unwilling to believe". This is not accurate. Skeptics require evidence before they believe something, but if the evidence is forthcoming, skepticism actually requires the skeptic to believe the results.

Similarly, skeptics are often thought of as being closed-minded. In fact skepticism is the opposite—it requires the skeptic to remain open-minded. Beliefs must be based on evidence rather than preconceived ideas, so if evidence is discovered that contradicts a skeptic's beliefs, the skeptic must be willing to alter their beliefs to fit the evidence.