Discard Bad Ideas
the hard but just rule is that if the ideas don't work, you must throw them away. Don't waste neurons on what doesn't work. Devote those neurons to new ideas that better explain the data. The British physicist Michael Faraday warned of the powerful temptation
to seek for such evidence and appearances as are in the favour of our desires, and to disregard those which oppose them . . . We receive as friendly that which agrees with [us], we resist with dislike that which opposes us; whereas the very reverse is required by every dictate of common sense.
Valid criticism does you a favour.
Notes:
It is difficult to do, but we must put our ideas up for criticism.
Folksonomies: empiricism peer review
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Concepts:
William Whewell (0.880754): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Michael Faraday (0.783200): dbpedia | freebase | yago
2006 singles (0.751629): dbpedia
Michael Jackson (0.725221): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc | yago | musicBrainz
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark