The High Cost of Skepticism.

In the olden days, perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, academic debates were marked by sweet discourse and the harmonious if impassioned hum of debate. (Also by sarcasm.) The rule used to be that if you disagreed with someone's opinion or interpretations of data, you did the civilized thing -- you called the person a knucklehead or an incompetent fool...

The High Cost of Skepticism by Carol Tavris:
http://williamcalvin.com/2002/TavrisArticle.htm