Sagan isn't simply cheerleading for truth-telling—he's acknowledging a harder truth beneath: that reality often disappoints us, and our minds naturally prefer comfortable falsehoods. The radical move here is treating delusion not as stupidity but as *temptation*, something emotionally rational even when intellectually wrong. When you discover your long-trusted financial advisor has been misleading you, or that a cherished childhood memory doesn't match what actually happened, you feel the genuine cost of his argument—grasping what's real means surrendering the reassurance you'd built your days around.