{"id":833,"date":"2015-02-08T13:02:55","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T13:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ceotucson.com\/?p=833"},"modified":"2015-02-08T13:02:55","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T13:02:55","slug":"fooling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/?p=833","title":{"rendered":"Are You Fooling Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
ARE YOU FOOLING YOURSELF? Each week Dr. Mardy Groethe distributes a fascinating newsletter on a topic of value, which he then goes on to treat, largely with a variety of quotations. This week’s topic is so insightful I wanted to share the entire newsletter. Read to the end and consider subscribing. It’s free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

THIS WEEK\u2019S PUZZLER:<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

On February 15, 1988, this Nobel Prize-winning physicist died at age 69 of abdominal cancer.\u00a0\u00a0At his death, he was best remembered as a brilliant young scientist who cut his teeth on The Manhattan Project and subsequently rose to the top of his profession after World War II.\u00a0\u00a0A New York Times obituary described him as \u201carguably the most brilliant, iconoclastic, and influential of the postwar generation of theoretical physicists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite his importance in the scientific community and his status as a 1965 Nobel laureate, he was not well known in popular culture when he was asked to serve on the presidential commission investigating the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986.\u00a0\u00a0During the hearings, he stunned the nation and humiliated NASA officials when he placed an O-ring seal in a glass of ice water and, in less than 30 seconds, demonstrated the vulnerability of the seal.\u00a0\u00a0If NASA scientists had paid attention to this simple principle, he suggested, the disaster would have been avoided.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite his serious scientific credentials, he was a free-spirited eccentric who enjoyed playing the bongo drums almost as much as he enjoyed playing practical jokes on colleagues.\u00a0\u00a0When once asked if he could explain in simple terms what he had done to earn the Nobel award, he said: \u201cHell, if I could explain it in three minutes, it wouldn\u2019t be worth the Nobel Prize.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He once offered an observation about science that applies to every aspect of life:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe first principle is that you must not fool yourself,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and you are the easiest person to fool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is this man?\u00a0\u00a0 (Answer below)<\/span><\/p>\n

THIS WEEK\u2019S THEME:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIn What Ways Have You Been Fooling Yourself?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The quotation in this week\u2019s Puzzler makes a point that\u2019s been made countless times over the centuries: it\u2019s easy for human beings to deceive themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

The big problem in life, though, is that people in the middle of fooling themselves are not aware of their folly.\u00a0\u00a0Even worse, in the middle of expressing a false belief, they may even be thinking they\u2019re completely correct.\u00a0\u00a0The eminent philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein expressed the problem this way:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf there were a verb meaning \u2018to believe falsely,\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0it would not have any significant first-person, present indicative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In plain English, this means that it is virtually impossible for people to say \u201cI am believing falsely\u201d when they\u2019re in the middle of falsely believing something.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, they might \u2014 and often do \u2014 say in the past tense, \u201cI have believed falsely.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But when people believe something, at the very moment they express the belief, they invariably conclude that it is true.<\/span><\/p>\n

For centuries, great thinkers have reminded us that it is common for people to engage in self-deception, especially when they\u2019re describing personal traits and qualities.\u00a0\u00a0This is true even when people begin their observations with the caveat, \u201cI may be wrong, but\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever met any people who said those words and really believed they might be wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, think about how all of this this may apply to you.\u00a0\u00a0The next time you begin to pontificate on some topic, simply stop and ask yourself, \u201cWhat if I might be wrong?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0You may even want to go a little deeper and ask, \u201cWhat are some beliefs about myself that just might be wrong?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Think about it.\u00a0\u00a0And as you do, reflect on these other quotations on this week\u2019s theme:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe man who suspects his own tediousness is yet to be born.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thomas Bailey Aldrich<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Leonardo da Vinci<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWho has deceiv\u2019d thee so oft as thyself?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Benjamin Franklin<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eric Hoffer<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNo estimate is more in danger of erroneous calculations than those<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0by which a man computes the force of his own genius.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Samuel Johnson<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOur enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0than we do in our opinion of ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Francois de La Rochefoucauld<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one\u2019s self.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhere we have strong emotions, we\u2019re liable to fool ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Carl Sagan<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe worst of all deceptions is self-deception.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Socrates<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe do not deal much in fact when we are contemplating ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark Twain<\/span><\/p>\n

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 9, 1866, George Ade was born in Kentland, Indiana.\u00a0\u00a0One of seven children brought up in small midwestern town, he was a teenager when he became interested in the newspaper business.\u00a0\u00a0He went on to major in journalism at Purdue University, graduating in 1887.\u00a0\u00a0In 1890, he moved to Chicago to take a job with the Chicago Daily News (later the Chicago Record), and it was not long before he brought his endearing country-boy ways to the big city.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally hired as a weather reporter, Ade took to the streets, asking local residents for their thoughts about the weather.\u00a0\u00a0The practice of reporting the comments of regular folks proved so popular that Ade was soon writing a daily column called \u201cStories of the Streets and The Town.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0His first three books, all based on his newspaper columns, featured some of the city\u2019s most colorful characters: \u201cArtie\u201d (1896), an office boy, \u201cPink Marsh\u201d (1897), a black shoeshine boy, and \u201cDoc Horne\u201d (1899), a gentlemanly con artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1899, Ade\u2019s \u201cFables in Slang\u201d became a national best-seller (he went on to thoroughly \u201cmilk\u201d concept, writing eleven additional humorous books of fables over the next several decades).\u00a0\u00a0He also became one of the most successful playwrights of his era and, with the birth of the motion-picture industry, one of the earliest screenwriters.\u00a0\u00a0He is not well remembered today, but in the first decades of the twentieth century, his popularity rivaled that of Mark Twain\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0When a respected Oxford professor of literature visited America in 1915, he described Ade as \u201cthe greatest living American writer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve long been a fan of \u201caltered aphorisms,\u201d sayings that parody or slightly tweak famous sayings.\u00a0\u00a0Ade favored the form:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFamiliarity breeds contentment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBe it ever so humble, there\u2019s no place like home<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for wearing what you like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEarly to bed and early to rise is a bad rule for any one who wishes to<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0become acquainted with our most prominent and influential people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also authored these other memorable lines:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor parlor use the vague generality is a life-saver.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Whom are you?\u2019 he asked, for he had attended business college.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf it were not for the presents, an elopement would be preferable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe music teacher came twice a week<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to bridge the awful gap between Dorothy and Chopin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Mark Twain, Ade traveled the country, enthralling people from the speaking platform.\u00a0\u00a0And also like Twain, he had an irreverent streak that occasionally offended religious people.\u00a0\u00a0On a lecture tour in the early 1900s, he checked into an Indianapolis hotel that was hosting a convention for a group of clergyman.\u00a0\u00a0One of Ade\u2019s companions, noticing the irony, asked the humorist how it felt being around so many members of the cloth.\u00a0\u00a0Cleverly reversing the biblical story about Daniel, Ade replied:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI feel like a lion in a den of Daniels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

PUZZLER ANSWER:\u00a0\u00a0Richard Feynman<\/span><\/p>\n

DR. MARDY\u2019S QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhen describing ourselves,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the great temptation is to confuse the ideal with the real.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Until next week,<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mardy Grothe<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit Dr. Mardy\u2019s web site:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0www.drmardy.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Check out Dr. Mardy\u2019s daily Twitter quotations: @drmardy<\/span><\/p>\n

Other books by Dr. Mardy Grothe:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNeverisms: A Quotation Lover\u2019s Guide to Things You Should<\/span><\/p>\n

Never Do, Never Say, or Never Forget\u201d (May, 2011)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIfferisms: An Anthology of Aphorisms That Begin with the Word \u2018If’\u201d (2009)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI Never Metaphor I Didn\u2019t Like\u201d (2008)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cViva la Repartee\u201d (2005)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOxymoronica: Paradoxical Wit & Wisdom\u201d (2004)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNever Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You\u201d (1999)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ARE YOU FOOLING YOURSELF? Each week Dr. Mardy Groethe distributes a fascinating newsletter on a topic of value, which he then goes on to treat, largely with a variety of quotations. This week’s topic is so insightful I wanted to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-for-fun","category-personal-insight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions\/834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceotucson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}