The wise vs the foolish

[Freetounged]

A wise man can always learn from a fool but a fool will never learn from a wise man.

 

I came up with this while "serving" a mormon mission. I was reminded of it recently and wonder if my thought is flawed.

 

It used to have can in place of will but I changed it because so many choose to be stupid.

 

 

What do you think?

[Demosthenes_]

I see the sentence saying a wise man has the capacity to learn from others and chooses to use that capacity to learn at their own will. A fool does not have the capacity to learn from others and does not learn because they cannot. If this is your intent, then I would say the sentence is right.

 

I would not say stupid people choose to be stupid because that suggests consciousness of their intellect. In this case I would advocate the Dunning-Kruger effect. I believe foolish/stupid people may not fully grasp their intellect which leads to a state of arrogance and the inability to accept their faults.

[Freetounged]

@Demosthenes_

To a point. I felt, at the time, a person was not a fool if willing to continually learn. They may not be wise but, in the least, not a fool.

 

It is hard for me to accept that people have a permanent low intellect because their vote/opinion affects me. That idea I find frightening.

[Demosthenes_]

If you felt that way then, how do you feel now?

Is it an issue of capacity? Do you feel like a person who has an IQ of 80 could one day have an IQ of 100?

If you do not feel it is an issue of capacity, then I would argue you have already accepted people's permanent low intellect. What you might feel then is a lack of understand, feel anger and fear towards the fools who has much power as you.

[SamuelS]

I think your sentence sums up pretty well what Socrates was trying to teach...he wasn't the wisest because he knew anything, he was the wisest because he knew that he didn't know anything whereas the fools think they know everything yet know nothing, so actually know less than he since he at least knows he doesn't know.I share in your frustration, it seems we're all surrounded by fools that think they know yet know naught...and those are the people aiming guns at us for daring to question the status quo. I don't know how to decrease this other than by surrounding myself with the wise and avoiding fools like the intellectual lepers they are.

[Freetounged]

@Demosthenes_

I am slowly accepting one's intelligence is limited.

 

Not sure. I see my slowly growing in some respects. If I can mentally grow, why not others?

 

I think there is some ways of increasing IQ but maybe not as high as 20 points.

 

It could be. Anger? Yes. It is something I am working through. There is a down syndrom man who I know is aware of his limitations and I admire him for it. I do not consider him a fool. I meet too many "normal" people who are ignorant of there stupidity and are, in my eyes, less intelligent than that down syndrome man.

[SamuelS]

I don't know if it's intellect that is lacking so much as integrity to principles and the willingness to explore uncomfortable ideas...I've known extremely intelligent people that are foolish know-it-all types, and I'm sure I at times could be counted amoung them...the difference, I think, is that I do not wish to dwell in foolishness, but wisdom, and the first step on that path is to accept that I know almost nothing.

[Alan C.]

Being stupid and foolish isn't the same thing as being retarded. A retarded person might not have a sufficiently developed mental faculty to exercise good judgement. Paul Krugman isn't retarded, but he is stupid and foolish.

 

In a free society, in which individuals would be responsible for the consequences of their own behavior, an enormous price would be paid for being stupid, foolish, and reckless. Presently, the State subsidizes ill-advised and imprudent behavior by externalizing the cost through various welfare programs, so people who are incapable of learning through reason and evidence are spared the pain of learning through experience.