The truth of things is the chief nutriment of superior intellects.

A mind runs on accurate material the way a body runs on food. Feed it flattery, wishful reports and comfortable half-versions, and it grows slow and easily fooled, whatever its raw capacity. What sharpens thinking is contact with how things actually are, especially where that contradicts the story you preferred. The appetite for such contact can be grown, and it belongs to no special class of person.

This week, go looking for one piece of information you have been avoiding. A number, a plain answer, a conversation you keep deferring. The discomfort passes quickly and the clarity stays.