I think of the above as a fact of life, simply due to the time restraints of mortality! I may have something wrong in my reasoning which is one reason to post, but if I haven't then I'm also interested in how other people decide what to investigate and what to accept.

So here goes. I choose to accept I don't know how Darren Brown did his 'trick', I'm quite comfortable with that and have no wish to chase round an explanation that I can actually support with evidence, or to brandish an assumption with any great force. I'm also comfortable to still 'bet' it's not paranormal and to say I don't think his reveal was 100% honest. I wouldn't postulate my position re Darren Brown as skeptical, largely because of my own laziness and contentment with best guesses. In other words I equate skepticism with effort and care. I have the same approach to theism - not convinced, content with 'betting' there's no god, not wrestling in any way with that, not 'fact' hunting re evolution, already seen enough to make my 'bet'.

I make choices about what to investigate further constantly and use mostly the same few criteria for what to spend the effort to be a little more skeptical in my approach towards. Here's some of the things which those decisions are made on:
*Having a degree of knowledge that gives me a head start, reducing the time needed to be skeptical and therefore making it more readily worthwhile.
*Seeing a real use for the knowledge in my own life - each person's situation is different and so are the opportunities to use what they learn.
*The amount I view the contested issue as having a 'civic' (probably wrong word) impact, is it rightfully a voting issue? Does it effect society as a whole to an extent that even a small impact from my personal beliefs make further investigation worthwhile?
* Am I interested 'just because', in other words will I enjoy the effort needed, find it pleasurable and life enhancing?

Does anyone think that it is possible to be skeptical all the time? If not what sort of things influence decisions about when to engage in the activity?