“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”This premise formed the basis of yesterday's post. And while in it is contained a lot of truth (and I expounded upon what I take it to mean), we also can't use this as an excuse to do nothing. Centrism, nuance, and research are fine stances to take, but they don't make the world move. We can't necessarily label ourselves wise just because we can't make decisions. We're just not that special. In some cases we're simply being pussies.
Digging further into Russell's quote is the original writing from whence it came:
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Even those of the intelligent who believe that they have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points.From "The Triumph of Stupidity," written in 1933, lamenting the rise of the Nazi party (attribution: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/03/04/self-doubt/). Following the quote of interest, he notes that too often we allow trivial details to derail what could otherwise be beneficial partnerships. For the time being, go with what you know. Don't solidify what you think you know already as being objective truth; keep searching, but you have to do something at some point. You're not smart enough not to.
Interesting side note:
I found this blog post while researching Russell's writing. Very good stuff!
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