“The first principle
is that you must not
fool yourself,
and you are
the easiest
person to fool.”
—Richard Feynman,
from his1974 Caltech
commencement address.
If history is a guide,
censoring opinions
that contradict
the science
consensus,
doesn’t
end well.
German philosopher
Hegel said the only thing
we learn from history
is that we learn nothing
from history.
We are our own
worst enemies
when it comes
to identifying
shortcomings
in our beliefs.
We are victims
of confirmation bias,
groupthink, anchoring,
and other biases.
And we are often
unaware of our biases,
which is why we’re the
easiest people to fool.
“In science we need to form
parties, as it were, for and
against any theory that is
being subjected to serious
scrutiny,” wrote the science
philosopher Karl Popper,
in 1972.
“For we need to have
a rational scientific
discussion, and discussion
does not always lead
to a clear-cut resolution.”
Seeking evidence
that contradicts
our own opinion
is very important
in real science.
A real scientist
has the duty of
attempting to falsify
his own theory.
It's human nature
to defend your beliefs,
but the science
is likely to improve
after honest debate.
And debate is not
harsh ridicule and
character attacks,
considered to be
debate by leftists.
In his 2016 Caltech
commencement
address,
Atul Gawande
highlighted five
hallmark traits
of pseudoscientists:
(1) conspiracy,
(2) cherry-picking data,
(3) producing fake experts,
(4) moving the goalposts, and
(5) deploying false analogies
and other logical fallacies.
“When you see several or all
of these tactics deployed,”
said Gawande,
“you know that you’re
not dealing with a
scientific claim
anymore.”
Charlie Munger,
Warren Buffett’s
right-hand man,
described his own
mental model
during his 2007
USC Law School
commencement
address:
“I’m not entitled to have
an opinion on [a] subject unless
I can state the arguments against
my position better than the people
do who are supporting it.”