Do not fool yourself

Why it stays with me

Feynman said this to graduating students, and he was not warning them about liars. He was warning them about themselves. The person most likely to believe a convenient result is the one who wanted it.

That is what makes the line uncomfortable. It is easy to check other people’s claims carefully and wave your own through. Science works because it builds habits that do not trust the person doing the work: controls, replication, writing down a prediction before looking at the data.

I try to apply it in small ways. When something I read confirms what I already think, that is exactly when I should slow down and check the source.