A quote to ponder from Albert Einstein:
"... Since the purpose is to understand the world as it really is, and not to persuade anybody of anything in particular, there is no place in science for deception, especially unconscious self-deception. The scientist cannot get away with fooling himself. Because all that will happen at the end of the process if you fail to detect your errors is that your aeroplane will not fly. The laws of nature, you see, cannot be deceived. So there is a strong underlying ethical principle woven into the very fabric of the scientific process - something which is all too often overlooked. Would it not be wonderful if the same were true in certain other fields of human activity?
As quoted in M. Strong's The Habit of Thought, chapter 2: Intellectual Integrity.
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