Skepticism isn’t negativity. It’s caring enough to check.

Doubt gets mistaken for cynicism, but they point in opposite directions. A cynic has decided in advance that everything is rubbish and therefore never bothers looking. Someone sceptical is still interested in whether the claim is true, which is why they ask where the number came from. That is not a bad mood, it is a form of respect for the question.

Check one thing this week that you were going to accept without checking: a statistic in a post, a claim in an argument, a promise about a job. Find the source rather than another person repeating it. Say what you found, calmly, without scoring a point.