WHEN testing the truth of two mutually exclusive propositions, it’s important to be guided by one cardinal rule. If one of two propositions is an inconvenient truth, eliminate personal prejudices as much as possible first. I know this seems elementary but it is very difficult to apply. Very smart people all the time decide that something false is true because it is easier to believe it.

Let’s say you are deciding between Proposition A and Proposition B. Both can’t possibly be true because they contradict each other. Let’s say Proposition A, if it is true, involves not just personal inconvenience but hardship. If Proposition A is true, you will, with apologies to Dale Carnegie, lose friends and not influence people. A is an unpleasant truth.

Proposition B, on the other hand, allows you to live just as you are living now. B is convenient. B is easy.

In these cases, don’t gaze into the future. Focus on the philosophical conflict itself. Understand that even if truth is unpleasant, it is still truth. And truth will follow you wherever you go. In the end, truth is the most convenient thing of all.

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