Most investment knowledge is predicated on math and science. This chapter won’t dismiss either, but it will provide a different perspective to help us see both in a way that helps us invest better. They are not religions, but useful ways of seeing the world sometimes by breaking down or contradicting reality. Good science holds skepticism as its highest value—that is what we wish to cultivate. Even to be skeptical about science itself! Often enough, mathematical theories contradict or compute results that simply do not translate into reality. As neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer said, “No truth is perfect, that doesn’t mean all truths are equally imperfect.” The findings of science are the best we have at objective knowing, but that doesn’t mean they are a panacea.
Sometimes, Apollo’s arrow of knowledge is shot crooked.