“How easy it was to mistake clear reasoning for correct reasoning!”
Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah
British Economist Ronald Coase is famed for the quote, “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” Charming delivery, compelling story lines, and flashy statistics are wonderful tools for stirring the heart but speaks little to the underlying truth of the matter at hand.
Healthy skepticism is important. Ask yourself whether your head or your heart is evaluating the information at hand. Happiness comes not from having clear cut answers—such a thing doesn’t exist in this world. Rather, when we learn to find satisfaction in the process of refining our questions, we can find a stable source of joy.