The Tao of Intellectual Honesty

Forget for a moment the author of this excellent piece of advice for those seeking to be as intellectually honest as they can and just add it to your curating toolbox for everyday reading.

Excerpt:

[...]The first line of defense, I’d argue, is to always be suspicious of people telling you what you want to hear. 

Thus, if you’re a conservative opposed to a stronger safety net, you should be extra skeptical about claims that health reform is about to crash and burn, especially coming from people who made the same prediction last year and the year before (Obamacare derp runs almost as deep as inflation derp). 

But if you’re a liberal who believes that we should reduce inequality, you should similarly be cautious about studies purporting to show that inequality is responsible for many of our economic ills, from slow growth to financial instability. Those studies might be correct — the fact is that there’s less derp on America’s left than there is on the right — but you nonetheless need to fight the temptation to let political convenience dictate your beliefs.[...]