Establishing causation for a complex societal issue requires more than a single data set. The best approach is to build a "collage of evidence." This involves finding natural experiments—like states that enacted a policy before a national ruling—to test the hypothesis under different conditions and strengthen the causal claim.

In the 1960s, Jane Goodall was criticized by scientists for naming chimpanzees and describing their emotions. These very methods, however, were crucial in overthrowing the dogma that personality, thought, and feeling were uniquely human traits, transforming the field of ethology.

Charlie Munger, who considered himself in the top 5% at understanding incentives, admitted he underestimated their power his entire life. This highlights the pervasive and often hidden influence of reward systems on human behavior, which can override all other considerations.

As Charlie Munger taught, incentive-caused bias is powerful because it causes people to rationalize actions they might otherwise find unethical. When compensation depends on a certain behavior, the human brain twists reality to justify that behavior, as seen in the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal.

The public appetite for surprising, "Freakonomics-style" insights creates a powerful incentive for researchers to generate headline-grabbing findings. This pressure can lead to data manipulation and shoddy science, contributing to the replication crisis in social sciences as researchers chase fame and book deals.

Animals actively treat their own illnesses. Chimpanzees consume specific bitter plants to fight intestinal parasites, while urban birds weave nicotine-filled cigarette butts into their nests as a fumigant. This behavior reveals a sophisticated, evolved understanding of their environment for medicinal purposes.

Colossal's CEO admits that headline-grabbing projects like the dire wolf overshadow more impactful but less "sexy" work, such as saving the critically endangered red wolf. The glamorous projects act as a funnel for attention and funding for broader conservation efforts.

Physicist Brian Cox's most-cited paper explored what physics would look like without the Higgs boson. The subsequent discovery of the Higgs proved the paper's premise wrong, yet it remains highly cited for the novel detection techniques it developed. This illustrates that the value of scientific work often lies in its methodology and exploratory rigor, not just its ultimate conclusion.

To counteract the brain's tendency to preserve existing conclusions, Charles Darwin deliberately considered evidence that contradicted his hypotheses. He was most rigorous when he felt most confident in an idea—a powerful, counterintuitive method for maintaining objectivity and avoiding confirmation bias.