“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”
—Bertrand Russell
By the way, I am uncertain as to how to think about the quantification (number / proportion / “ballpark estimate”) of real people who fit the concept of Russel’s “wiser people”, or Yeats’ “best”.
How far off would I be if I were to estimate the quantity of such wiser and better people as “less than one third of the population of any given tribe” ?
Is anyone brave enough to say it should be thought of as a drastically smaller quantity?
Is anyone brave enough to realize how much they themselves actually fit the description for the “fools and fanatics” or “worst”—and then, after realizing it, actually become the better?
Or am I perhaps better off to not pick at the idea?
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” —Bertrand Russell
I prefer Yeats’ phrasing:
By the way, I am uncertain as to how to think about the quantification (number / proportion / “ballpark estimate”) of real people who fit the concept of Russel’s “wiser people”, or Yeats’ “best”.
How far off would I be if I were to estimate the quantity of such wiser and better people as “less than one third of the population of any given tribe” ?
Is anyone brave enough to say it should be thought of as a drastically smaller quantity?
Is anyone brave enough to realize how much they themselves actually fit the description for the “fools and fanatics” or “worst”—and then, after realizing it, actually become the better?
Or am I perhaps better off to not pick at the idea?
I’m quite comfortable to ballpark < 5%.
That is about my impression too. I’m less sure about the ‘worst’. I’d go with up to a third but perhaps symmetry is intended.