The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't

Chapter 6. NO, IT'S JUST THE OPPOSITE

When You Are Wrong—Really, Really, Really Wrong

This chapter may seem whacky to you. But it isn't. Chapter 5 expanded on how Question One helps uncover false myths "everyone" knows even though no one bothered to fact check. A curious mind is the best weapon you have—in investing but also in life. The Questions aren't just for investing. You can use them for many life decisions. For example, suppose you're embroiled in divorce. Nobody wants that. Yet it abounds. It's bankrupting—financially and emotionally. Had you used the Three Questions when deciding to marry maybe you wouldn't be so embroiled. Things may have turned out differently had you done some scientific inquiry into the person whose life and bank accounts you came to share. Let's see how that goes: What do I believe that is really false? What can I fathom others find unfathomable? What the heck is my brain doing to blindside me now? Am I suffering confirmation bias? How about illusion of validity? Am I overconfident? All the same stuff. But once you get to marriage on the rocks of divorce, you know you were really, really, really, really wrong. But I digress.

Using Question One, you discover ever more myths. More exciting, you'll find myths so broadly, irreversibly, and passionately held the exact reverse ends up being true. Where mythology is so really, really, really, really wrong—it's actually backwards—like our example of federal budget deficits leading to great stock market returns ...