Making Stuff Up
Humans have a strong tendency to make stuff up. For example, as this article shows, when asked to guess humans loose their grasp on the truth more often. Moreover, the humans who only stick to what they confidently know faired much better at truth seeking.
The lesson: if you want to be rational, don't make stuff up. Making stuff up gets in the way of truth seeking.
Helpful Tip: Don't discuss your ideas as you put them together. As the referenced article explains, people who tried to explain their reasoning often reasoned incorrectly more often than those who just worked out the answer silently. This is good advice for those of you who tend to jump on IRC/phone/nearest person every time you get an idea.
As most of you know, I continue to fail horribly at this. Sigh. Being a human is tough, but trying to be better than human is even harder.
