Telling the Truth: Why It Matters

I’m new to the wild, wild west of the online platforms, and barely have an online presence. But I’ve noticed a disturbing trend, which is persons holding themselves out to be something they are not – i.e., misstating their qualifications. How is this related to my research? 

Well, my research matters to so many things, but one of the most important values I stand for is truth! And I once staked my life on my integrity and promised God that I would die before I violate my integrity. I actually said that I would rather be struck dead than violate my own integrity. I said a bunch of other stuff to God as part of a “bargain” or “promise” I made to God. I believe I’ve held up my end of the bargain, and the jury is still out as to whether God will hold up his/her/their/its end with me, of course over what time frame I couldn’t really say.

But I believe in leading by inspiration, and so I’ll start with the fact that I believe everyone has an obligation to be honest about their research and/or accomplishments. Please note that I identify myself as an aspiring mathematician and aspiring physicist. Privately, I’ve been told that I function at the level of a post-doc in math (and I guess I broadcasted this), but I don’t hold myself out (yet) to say I am an actual mathematician or physicist because I don’t have a degree in these fields yet (though equally I believe one can be an autodidact, like me, and I believe in book learning, and Freeman Dyson, who was a Nobel-caliber physicist, did not have a PhD, but respectfully, I want one.)

So, today’s extremely short post is about how academic honesty and integrity matter greatly. There’s a famous woman researcher at Harvard whose entire career stood for honesty pledges, and she lost tenure and had her papers retracted after it came out that she fudged data. This will never happen to me, or if it does, it will be undeserved. Because I do stake my life and everything that matters to me on my integrity.  

Equally, there are many amazing scientists who never lost their way. And these people go down in history, and some of them knew from a very early age they were going to change the world. I give you my post on the intellectual history of women in science, and how Einstein himself was extremely arrogant in private, and knew years in advance before he won the Nobel Prize that he was going to win and gave away his future winnings to his wife to get a divorce. I'm not comparing myself to Einstein - or Galileo - or any of the greats, just saying that I'm uncompromising in my values, and this is my second career, which means I'm actually quite established and have never once significantly compromised my values at any point in my entire legal career. Nor will I. 

Incidentally, one of the greatest spiritual teachers ever, who is not a scientist but who partially started my spiritual awakening, is Oprah, who tells a story about how she knew even as a small girl she would not wind up a maid in the South, and knew she was destined for more. Oprah is amazing, and if I thought she were qualified, I'd nominate her to run for President, if there is ever a free and fair election again, but I still prefer Dorothy Roberts.

-Cortelyou C. Kenney (6/12/25, 8:07 am PT)

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