18 September 2009

“Wrong is evil, and it must be defeated”

This article by Jeff Ello is about information technology (IT) professionals, but it also applies to scientists:

While everyone would like to work for a nice person who is always right, IT pros will prefer a jerk who is always right over a nice person who is always wrong. Wrong creates unnecessary work, impossible situations and major failures. Wrong is evil, and it must be defeated.

That last sentence is one of the best summaries of why scientists are, as Randy Olson puts it, “handicapped by a blind obsession with the truth.”

1 comment:

Suzy said...

I agree 100%. Found your site when I was looking for this quote again - nice.