“It has always been the prerogative of children & half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes.
But the half-wit remains a half-wit, & the emperor remains an emperor.”
I’d suggest, however, that one who is wise had better be at least better than a fool at discerning truths, or the one who is wise isn’t all that wise.
In other words, of a fool is better than a wise person at finding truths no one else can find, then there’s a serious problem with our notions of foolishness and wisdom.
I read the Gaiman quote as referring to “fool” in the sense of court jester, which seems to have more to do with status than intelligence although there are implications of both. Looked at that way, Psy-Kosh’s objection doesn’t seem to apply; it might indicate something wrong with our status criteria, but of course we already knew that.
The psalm, on the other hand, probably is talking mainly about intelligence. But the ambiguity still makes for a nice contrast.
From a forum signature:
Also Neil Gaiman.
Even my theist girlfriend laughed out loud at that one :-)
I’d suggest, however, that one who is wise had better be at least better than a fool at discerning truths, or the one who is wise isn’t all that wise.
In other words, of a fool is better than a wise person at finding truths no one else can find, then there’s a serious problem with our notions of foolishness and wisdom.
No idea if it’s what Neil Gaiman meant, but the quote can be “rescued” by reading it like this:
That is, the fool is as good at discerning truths as the wise man, but not as good at knowing when it’s advantageous to say them or not.
I read the Gaiman quote as referring to “fool” in the sense of court jester, which seems to have more to do with status than intelligence although there are implications of both. Looked at that way, Psy-Kosh’s objection doesn’t seem to apply; it might indicate something wrong with our status criteria, but of course we already knew that.
The psalm, on the other hand, probably is talking mainly about intelligence. But the ambiguity still makes for a nice contrast.
Fair enough, if one means fool in that sense.
The equanimity of foolishness and wisdom is a long establish idea. The intention is to encourage better updating.