You are the easiest person to fool

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite quote?
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I think there are many great quotes, so it is difficult to pick a specific one. However, I think that one quote by Richard Feynman, the physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), stands out.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.

The quote means that people naturally tend to believe what they want to believe, making self-deception much easier than tricking others.

The picture is an illustration of a young man wearing pink glasses and a dunce hat surrounded by equations floating in the air. It says I believe whatever I want to believe.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. Don’t believe what feels right. Scrutinize your beliefs. Picture created with the help of ChatGPT.

Ask yourself, what if one of your beliefs isn’t true. How likely is it that all of your beliefs are true? It is pretty much impossible that all of our beliefs are true. If we want to align our beliefs about what is true as much as possible, then we need to scrutinize our beliefs. If they are true, they will withstand the scrutiny. Yes, we need to understand the topic in question and the evidence. Once the facts and the science have given you a conclusive answer you have to accept it. Rejecting an answer that is based on evidence because you don’t like it is not critical thinking.

If you disagree with the world’s experts on a topic on which you lack expertise, then that is a good indicator that you are wrong. Respecting expertise is not the appeal to authority fallacy. It is just common sense. Denial or outright dismissal of a fact you don’t like is not critical thinking, that is denial.

I’ve been there. I grew up in a religious environment that did not accept evolution. I thought evolution was a hoax. However, I loved science, I was good at it, and I went to the natural science high school (naturvetenskap) in Sweden before studying physics at the University. I came to realize from my studies that the various claims, and the faulty evidence I had accepted, that Earth being 6,000 years old, etc., was nonsense, that the second law of thermodynamics did not contradict evolution, that evolution was not “just a theory” but a scientific fact as well. I did not come to that conclusion by arguing with people. I came to that conclusion by learning about the related science. It turned out that my creationist beliefs were not because I knew something others didn’t. I had just been bamboozled.

About 15-20 years ago I was very skeptical about climate change, global warming, climate disruption, whatever you call it. That was the result of me almost exclusively reading rightwing news sources and blogs. But I did not really know much about the science, and I was not even aware of the scientific consensus, and for ideological reasons I did not want global warming to be true.

However, I came across a few red flags, and I was curious, and I took a deep dive into the topic. After listening more carefully to the climate scientists and learning about the topic, I came to realize that global warming was real, and that the evidence that the current rapid warming was not natural but caused by us, chiefly because of our burning of fossil fuels, was for all practical purposed conclusive. I had been bamboozled again, because I trusted the wrong sources, and because of what I wanted to believe.

In think most of us do these kinds of mistakes. The many implausible conspiracy theories out there and all the anti-science are a result of that. But we need to be willing to scrutinize our beliefs and try to understand the topics.  Sometimes that is difficult, but at least you can try not to be dismissive, or think you know better than the experts in a field where you lack expertise. And second guessing the motives of most scientists in a field is a trap. You will only fool yourself doing that. Intentionally seek the truth not confirmation of your belief.

I have a second blog, I call it superfactful. The goal of this blog is to create a list of what I call super facts. That is important facts that are true with very high certainty and yet surprising, misunderstood, or disputed by many. This blog is educational and fun but challenging. Below I am listing a few of my blog posts that fall in the category of being disputed by many non-experts for various reasons. They might be challenging, perhaps even provocative facts.

To see a full list of all super facts click here

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

24 thoughts on “You are the easiest person to fool”

  3. We grow up being fed SO much mis-information, and it’s no one’s fault. But it feels like I’ve spent a lifetime deprogramming myself from beliefs that are not true, starting with religion. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Thomas. A great quote!

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    1. Yes you are right Jan. With all the misinformation on social media, from government, and various organizations, it makes much more difficult to know what is true. Reacting less with emotion and questioning your own beliefs instead of only that of others become important.

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  4. Your choice to quote Richard Feynman underscores the importance of intellectual honesty and the need to avoid self-deception.

    Your account of overcoming prejudices about evolution and climate change is a compelling example of critical thinking.

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  7. Good quote and meaning behind it. I am always looking for that truth and will shift my beliefs when I find it. I like being proven wrong but sometimes it can a while to get there.

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  8. Intentionally seek the truth not confirmation of your belief.

    If only everyone would do this! Your open-mindedness in seeking the truth over what you were brought up to believe is admirable, Thomas. I used to think climate change was a natural phenomenon, and now know that is not the case. Your posts on the subject were real eye-openers! As for conspiracy theories, a couple of them do seem plausible. The deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Jeffrey Epstein come to mind… Looking at your list of Superfactful titles, I bet the one about Jesus not being born on Christmas caused a stir. 🙂 Some people are fanatical in their religious beliefs and cling to them ferociously.

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    1. Thank you so much Debbie. It took me a while to change my mind. According to psychology we all react instinctively in an emotional way wanting to protect our beliefs and our worldview. Some are more rational about it and some more emotional. My guess is that I am in the middle. Yes, I should say that not all conspiracy theories are equal. They can be true, they can be plausible, but some are highly implausible and people still won’t let them go.

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    1. Thank you John. Yes, you are of course right. With “Caused by us”, I meant the whole world, all of us, past, current, and future peoples and nations. I hope it will be interpreted like that, and not another “us”.

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  10. People’s egos can get in the way of rational thinking when we should be trusting of those who are more in the know and are experts in the field. (Just because I’ve flown on an airplane doesn’t mean I’m going to tell the pilot how to fly the plane.) Certainly, the experts can make mistakes, but I’d much rather take my chances with that than someone who heard a rumor and takes it as gospel.

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