HowtoAvoidFoolishOpinions
Toavoidthevariousfoolishopinionstowhichmankindisprone,
nosuperhumangeniusisrequired.
Afewsimpleruleswillkeepyou,
butfromsillyerror.
Ifthematterisonethatcanbesettledbyobservation,
maketheobservationyourself.
Aristotlecouldhaveavoidedthemistakeofthinking
thatwomenhavefewerteeththanmen,
bythesimpledeviceofaskingMrs.Aristotle
tokeephermouthopenwhilehecounted.
Hedidnotdosobecausehethoughtheknew.
wheninfactyoudon’tisafatalmistake,
arelesseasilybroughttothetestofexperience.
youhaveconvictionsonmanysuchmatters,
youcanmakeyourselfawareofyourownbias.
Ifanopinioncontrarytoyourownmakesyouangry,
thatisasignthatyouaresubconsciouslyaware
ofhavingnogoodreasonforthinkingasyoudo.
Ifsomeonemaintainsthattwoandtwoarefive,
youfeelpityratherthananger.
Themostsavagecontroversiesarethoseaboutmatters
astowhichthereisnogoodevidenceeitherway.
Persecutionisusedintheology,notinarithmetic,
becauseinarithmeticthereisknowledge,
butintheologythereisonlyopinion.
Sowheneveryoufindyourselfgettingangry
aboutadifferenceofopinion,
beonyourguard;youwillprobablyfind,
thatyourbeliefisgoingbeyondwhattheevidencewarrants.
Agoodwayofridingyourselfofcertainkindsofdogmatism
istobecomeawareofopinionsheldinsocialcirclesdifferentfromyourown.
Seekoutpeoplewithwhomyoudisagree,
andreadanewspaperbelongingtoapartythatisnotyours.
Ifthepeopleandthenewspaperseemmadandwicked,
remindyourselfthatyouseemsotothem.
Inthisopinionbothpartiesmayberight,
buttheycannotbothbewrong.
Thisreflectionshouldgeneratecaution.
