I'm listening to a book called "The Language Hoax" by linguistics professor John McWhorter wherein he says "skepticism is a form of intelligence." 

While I agree with McWhorter's assertion in general terms, I believe some take skepticism to a paranoid extreme. This may or may not be due to the aging process and senility creeping in but what I fear is that such assertions may lead people to want to become overly skeptical believing this proves they're "smarter than the average Joe" in some way.

Healthy skepticism is okay but being overly skeptical of every little thing is to bring upon oneself undue stress. Personally I don't feel the need to increase my level of skepticism just to prove I'm smarter than the next guy.

That said, the "skeptic" has never been my favorite personality type but having this new awareness will at least help me to have more respect for skeptical types heretofore.