John F. Kennedy on Myths

I was re-reading Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check, and came on a quote that -- for me -- perfectly summarizes the need for evidence-based management (and the mindset that can make it so hard to implement):

"The great enemy of truth is not often the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth-- persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.  Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

One of the main enemies of truth -- and the main causes of persistent but false myths -- is what psychologists call confirmation bias -- we tend to seek out, believe, and remember facts that support or beliefs, and avoid, disregard, and forget facts that clash with our myths.  The upshot is that we travel through life seeing persistent support for the myths we cling to, despite the evidence.  Simon and Garfunkel summarized this well when they said (I think I remember this accurately):  "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." This applies to women to, of course.  

One of the best defenses against "the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought" is to have strong opinions, weakly held.

P.S. John, thanks for the information and correction, the Simon and Garfunkel song is from The Boxer, and is ""Still, a man hears what he wants to hear;
And disregards the rest."

Comments

[Michael Sporer]

Bob;
Have you read "Sway; the Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior"? Great insights and a quick read.
Mike

[Bobsutton]

Rick,

Thanks. Weick is a genius, just amazing, if not always easy to follow.

Bob

[Rick]

Bob--the "strong opinions, weakly held" is still my favorite snippet of all the wisdom you have passed down in the time I have been reading your blog. I remember it best as expressed in Karl Weick's "argue as if you are right and listen as if you are wrong," which you also introduced to me.

It is a wonderful thing that you are so generous in spreading the wisdom others bring to the table.

[John Jenkins]

The quoted line is from "The Boxer."

"Still, a man hears what he wants to hear;
And disregards the rest."

I think that Paul Simon wrote all of the songs himself. At least, I don't recall Art Garfunkel being credited.