zlacker

Perhaps the meaning has changed, but at the very least that is how the word is used today. As an example /r/skeptic is a large community of people that self-identify as skeptics.

>>Square+(OP)
Your arrogance continues to astound me. The guy is an actual professor of philsophy talking about his specialty. The word has been used for hundreds of years. Yes, it has a particular meaning in its community. Reddit is not the whole of the world.

>>wpietr+y51
You know what. I can accept that there's a separate meaning in philosophy that this professor uses it in that context. Words often have unique meanings in specific fields.

However the colloquial, general meaning is still that of scientific skepticism. That's what comes up when you search skepticism on Wikipedia, reddit, or various definitions. That's also what is reasonably being referred to in a Hacker News post; a community that often subscribes to the same values expressed in skepticism.

Unless you know this professor and can put his words in their appropriate context, then the whole thing reads as decrying an entire movement of scientifically-minded people.