Skepticism Failure: Difference between revisions
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* You wouldn't expect an exception in a series that's all about wizards, but ''[[Harry Potter]]'' nonetheless has Hermione Granger utterly unconvinced by any of Trelawney's predictions or the Lovegoods' beliefs in creatures that, even by ''Harry Potter'' standards, are bizarre. The only correct Trelawney predictions are the ones Hermione doesn't hear in the first place, and the Lovegoods are right about exactly one thing the heroes didn't already know about ({{spoiler|the Deathly Hallows}}).
** Harry Potter is an interesting case, because Hermione is technically right, the evidence for these theories is ridiculously slim. Heck, one is a children's fable, which nobody believes. At the same time, she is Muggle-born, so she must realize that according to her evidence-driven arguments, the last 6 years of her life didn't even happen. Of course, an argument based off "Well, there might be another, even MORE secret wizard conspiracy" wouldn't be valid in the first place. Poor Hermione just can't be right, no matter what she does.
*** Actually, there's an entirely correct course of action for Hermione that Harry actually points out to her, and that she consistently refuses to do; that is, to take an agnostic attitude towards topics where she substantially lacks information. Or, in plain English, to not make up her mind that something is either proven ''or'' impossible until after she's finished investigating the possibility. But Hermione's consistent character flaw is being so proud that she knows so many things that she refuses to believe that she doesn't know everything.
*** Another example is when Harry reasons out his entire family tree, concluding that he's descended from a legendary trio of wizards. Hermione and Ron both think he's losing it. Granted, he was over-eager in his explanation, which was sort of hard to follow. But it was a sound argument nonetheless.
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