Volume XXIII, Number 49 (Issue 1158) December 8, 2025
The Last Place You Look
Have you ever misplaced your keys or your glasses? Inevitably, they turn up in the last place you look. Duh! After all, why continue searching once you have found the object you are looking for? But what if what you are seeking is intangible? That is, what if your search is for the answer to a burning question? Something that is fluid, ill-defined, or conceptual in nature? How often have you (we) concluded our search as soon as we find a plausible answer rather than continuing our quest for a/the definitive one? And if not the definitive answer, at least the one that is the best for now?
Something comparable occurs when pride of authorship rears its ugly head. We have all witnessed it if not been guilty of donning proverbial blinders to the reality that times and the environment have changed, causing most of our best decisions to gradually lose their efficacy.
This line of thinking reminds me of a working definition of the Confirmation Bias or the tendency, particularly among researchers, to exclude or discount any data points that appear to run counter or disprove the cause-and-effect relationship they are seeking to demonstrate. That phenomenon is never more pernicious than when the research has moved well down the path. The time and money invested makes starting anew hard to do. There are numerous examples of this loss of objectivity associated with the confirmation bias. And when flawed and fabricated results come to light, the typical outcome includes the loss of credibility for both the research and the researcher.
Other ways to think of it are “allowing the good to become the enemy of the great,” and quitting the race before it is over. Pride is a powerful force that can sometimes get in the way of one’s integrity and being open-minded.
Soli Deo Gloria
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it and it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210) 260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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