Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Reasoning paradigms

re: Reasoning paradigms
ER — (archived)

Every wise and decent man questions how much his own prejudices and interests tend to color his judgement on controversial issues. If you've ever had sincere doubts about something you believed in strongly and feared your convictions were simply the result of your philosophy or morality, or because it favored your income or fortune, then you are probably an honest man. But you still will never know for sure, will you?

However, in the real world, we must often make decisions based on insufficient or imperfect data, whether we like it or not. A good rule of thumb to go by is that the more someone stands to gain because of a certain outcome of a decision, the less trustworthy that individual's opinions become. And the more he accuses his opponents of behavior similar to that which he himself exhibits, the more likely he is to be fooling himself.

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (28 posts)