Card #74 – ”Don’t Fool Yourself”

Card #74 – ”Don’t Fool Yourself” from the Creative Whack Pack

Available on the iOS App Store and as a physical deck of cards

Self-deception plays a vital role in how we think about ourselves.

We have many unconscious assumptions — cognitive, perceptual, and cultural — built into our thinking, and we are rarely aware of their presence.

To counter these biases, physicist Richard Feynman provides this strategy: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”

He said this to an audience of scientists and engineers at a Caltech commencement speech, noting the smarter you are, the more likely you’ll fool yourself into believing you have an objective view of reality.

For example: over 94% of academics rate themselves in the top half of their fields.

As the magician Teller put it: “Nothing fools us better than the lies we tell ourselves.”

— How is self-deception hurting your judgment?

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