Why Worry? Unwarranted Concerns—and What a Practical Skeptic Can Do

Mick West argues that skeptics should help people distinguish between legitimate risks and unfounded worries without simply replacing one anxiety with another. Using examples ranging from UFO and alien-invasion fears to sharks and the supposed significance of 2027, he emphasizes that facts and statistics alone may not overcome emotionally driven fears, and concludes that practical skepticism should prioritize reassurance, understanding, and reducing worry rather than shaming people or redirecting them toward potentially more distressing concerns. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/08/why-worry-unwarranted-concerns-and-what-a-practical-skeptic-can-do/ About the Author: Mick West is a writer, investigator, and debunker who enjoys looking into the evidence behind conspiracy theories and strange phenomena and then explaining what is actually going on. He runs the Metabunk forum, tweets @mickwest, and is the author of the book "Escaping the Rabbit Hole". Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/