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Discursul de la Caltech despre știința cargo-cult
by Richard Feynman · 1974 · 1 reading card
AuthorRichard Feynman →ShelvesAphorisms
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Discursul de la Caltech despre știința cargo-cult · 1974
The greatest obstacle in the search for truth is our own capacity to deceive ourselves.
Feynman highlights a subtle mechanism: the human mind prefers comfortable stories over inconvenient facts. We fool ourselves when we ignore counterevidence, believe what we want to be true, or accept simple explanations for complex phenomena. A scientist might unconsciously tweak data to confirm a favored theory. An ordinary person might assume they 'just know' something without checking. Feynman says the fight against oneself is the first and hardest battle for anyone seeking truth.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.”