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To See The World As It Really Is

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Why Seeking Truth Requires Skepticism, Even When You’re Being Praised

We’re usually taught to treat praise as a green light.

You did well. You were right. Other people agree - you must be on the right track.

But if your goal is to understand the world as it really is, that kind of thinking can be misleading.

Praise often feels like clarity, but it can just as easily reflect comfort, conformity, or projection. In systems shaped by social cohesion, approval isn’t always a signal of accuracy. It’s often a sign that you’ve aligned with someone’s expectations, or, more likely, avoided their discomfort.

Criticism, on the other hand, can be a gift: not because it is necessarily right or wrong, but because it shows you where your model might need adjusting or rethinking. That is valuable data.

Some of the most dangerous distortions come wrapped in agreement. They’re the ideas no one questions, because they’re too easy to like.

Real-World Examples

  • Fast Takes During COVID
    • In the early months of the pandemic, confident statements and oversimplified answers gained rapid approval, especially on social media. Scientists who voiced uncertainty or called for more data were often ignored or dismissed, despite the fact that it was impossible to immediately understand the viral patterns. This yielded premature conclusions about masks, transmission, school closures, and treatments that later had to be walked back. Praise was tied to clarity of delivery, not depth of truth.
  • The Low-Fat Era and Manufactured Consensus
    • In the 1990s, “low-fat” became the gold standard of health advice. It was promoted by experts, advertised by food companies, and reinforced by governments. Anyone questioning it, especially on biological grounds, was often ignored or marginalized. Decades later, we now know that added sugar, not fat, was driving metabolic dysfunction. Widespread praise made shallow logic untouchable.

Double Check for Truth

If you’re someone who wants to see clearly and not just feel affirmed, then you can use praise as an opportunity to double check your thinking. Ask yourself:

  • Why do they agree with me?
  • What did I say that made it easy to approve?
  • What hasn’t been questioned yet, and why not?

The goal isn’t to reject praise out of cynicism. Sometimes it is reflecting the truth, and sometimes it isn’t. The goal is to stay in alignment with what’s real - even when everyone agrees with you.