"A word to the wise ain't necessary. It's the stupid ones who need the advice."
--Bill Cosby
That's funny, but not really true. Stupid people can't take advice, they are convinced they know everything. Wise people can, and even the wisest need it sometimes.
"Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed."
--Mark Twain
That's funny, but not really true. I think all of us would be profoundly more successful if everybody were smarter. I think the bulk of the resources and work in the work are wasted by stupidity.
"...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can. The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him."
--Mark Twain
That's funny, but not really true. The odds are (if the fight was serious) that the master swordsman would take down the novice in three seconds.
all of us would be profoundly more successful if everybody were smarter.
ReplyDeleteWere everyone smarter, the playing field would be even. Everyone's work would be of equal quality. You'd have, for example, thousands of people producing work of the quality of Mozart. You might think "Great! The more the merrier! More great music, more variety!" It would be repetitive and moreover boring as hell.
the master swordsman would take down the novice in three seconds.
Twain is correct. Chess masters are familiar with this idea. A total novice, ignorant of the game apart from the basic rules regarding the moves of the pieces, can be more dangerous than someone with even just a little knowledge.
I can't tell you how much I would like to say something now that's not funny, but really true.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your contribution. Twain was right again - I feel smarter already.
ReplyDeleteI also think Twain is correct in the swordsman quote. Example: Tim Ferriss reportedly won the national championship of Chinese kickboxing by exploiting a technical rule and knocking his opponents off of the elevated platform. The Chinese officials were not happy, but he won, legitimately.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also think Twain is correct in the fools quote. Now, of course, "success" is a vague concept. But most of the problems in today's society are the result of collectivism, which can be thought of as a group in concert keeping each other down. Stepping outside that box, you benefit from the advantage the self-sabotaging collective gives you. (This is thinking in terms of game theory.)
If there were no fools in the world, everybody could live in luxury. That to me is success, more than beating the other guy is.
ReplyDelete"The Chinese officials were not happy, but he won, legitimately."
No, he won *technically*. He did not fight, and he won on a technicality. And he had cheated to get into a much lower weight class than he should have been in.
Nevertheless, it is always MUCH harder to deal with someone who does not know or simply ignores the rules, no matter if it is a fight, or driving down the road.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine what life would be like in this world if all people decided all of a sudden to ignore all the thousands of unwritten rules that govern our lives.
The most dangerous of anyone is the expert that can ignore the rules. It's ridiculous to believe that everyone will fight fair just because you do. You shouldn't lower yourself to that level but you should be able to prevent someone like that from succeeding.
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