One of the biggest problems with the world is that fools are always so sure and certain about everything and intelligent people are so full of doubts and uncertainties.
Replies
Because lies require no understanding of nuance, or of figuring out the greater good amidst compromise and concilliation
jun 19, 2025, 4:26 pm • 4 0 • view
📌 Wise words to remember.
jun 19, 2025, 4:43 pm • 0 0 • view
Dunning-Kruger effect. I've seen it in my field of expertise. Maimonides said that the first step to wisdom is to practice saying "I don't know", or "I'm not sure".
jun 19, 2025, 3:45 pm • 21 1 • view
And Socrates: “I know that I know nothing.”
jun 29, 2025, 3:21 am • 1 0 • view
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity" The Second Coming W B Yeats
jul 2, 2025, 12:44 pm • 1 0 • view
Yes, because we listen we think for ourselves we have a conscience we question we answer and then we question again because if you really are ready, you also understand that we will never have the answer to all of the questions. Because if the universe is infinite, isn’t knowledge also infinite?
aug 2, 2025, 3:23 am • 0 0 • view
What happened to all of their hate for Asians from Trump first term office? I’m certain it’s not because there’s not enough hate to go around.
jun 19, 2025, 11:11 pm • 0 0 • view
This is because intelligent people research, study, and learn, while stupid people talk amongst themselves, share stupid ideas, and believe whatever a strong man tells them. That’s why they’re the stupid people.
jun 19, 2025, 6:04 pm • 0 0 • view
I don't trust anyone that doesn't think they are a moron They can also think they're smart but just not so much that they don't also think that they are the dumbest person alive like at least 1/5th of their waking hours
jun 19, 2025, 4:31 pm • 2 0 • view
The more I know, the more aware I am of what I don’t know. That’s the D-K curve in a nutshell. But, DK isn’t about actual expertise, it’s about self-perception. True experts have a tendency to doubt themselves much more often than those who know little enough to not see the gaps.
jun 19, 2025, 6:52 pm • 1 0 • view
Which intelligent people explore to find answers.
jun 19, 2025, 8:26 pm • 0 0 • view
Well now, isn’t THIS an accurate assessment? I have never witnessed such ignorance in a group of people who claim such expertise that is actually based on propaganda.
jun 20, 2025, 12:22 pm • 0 0 • view
The Best lack all conviction, while the Worst are full of passionate intensity -- William Butler Yeats
jun 24, 2025, 12:47 am • 0 0 • view
Dunning-Kruger
jun 20, 2025, 3:13 am • 0 0 • view
Einstein quote.
jun 19, 2025, 8:41 pm • 1 0 • view
Fools don’t appreciate critical thinking.
jun 19, 2025, 6:21 pm • 0 0 • view
As Yeats put it far more poetically.
jun 19, 2025, 10:08 pm • 0 0 • view
Wasn’t it Bertrand Russell who said that?
jun 19, 2025, 7:34 pm • 3 0 • view
but is he right? Is that certain, I have doubts, I don't know
jun 19, 2025, 4:29 pm • 3 0 • view
I thought this was Bertrand Russell's quote.
jun 19, 2025, 4:42 pm • 8 0 • view
I vaguely feel like I recall Sagan quoting Russell from time to time in books such as “The Demon Haunted World.” So, it would not be unlikely to my mind for this to be a quote of Sagan quoting or paraphrasing Russell in a book.
jun 19, 2025, 6:50 pm • 5 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 5:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Amen Carl Sagan, Amen.
jun 19, 2025, 4:27 pm • 2 0 • view
Are you sure of that?
jun 19, 2025, 9:08 pm • 0 0 • view
because fools don't think they can lose or be wrong, while intelligent people realize it's not true
jun 19, 2025, 4:33 pm • 10 0 • view
The plot of Idiocracy and we’re living it.
jun 19, 2025, 2:33 pm • 10 0 • view
So true.
jun 19, 2025, 7:00 pm • 0 0 • view
I don’t think Sagan said that.
jun 19, 2025, 6:05 pm • 0 0 • view
And fools are in power
jun 19, 2025, 4:53 pm • 0 0 • view
“For every complex problem, there is a simple, easy-to-understand wrong answer.”
jun 19, 2025, 7:10 pm • 3 0 • view
Well that about sums it up alright…..
jun 21, 2025, 1:17 pm • 0 0 • view
—Bertrand Russell
jun 19, 2025, 2:56 pm • 6 0 • view
I'm smart enough to identify the much smarter people and WANT them in power. Tiny minds are intimidated by superior intelligence.
jun 20, 2025, 12:49 pm • 0 0 • view
Paraphrasing Bertrand Russell, eh?
jun 19, 2025, 6:12 pm • 0 0 • view
Dinning-Krueger effect, yes?
jun 19, 2025, 10:35 pm • 1 0 • view
I’m the best ever, the best there could ever be at understanding Dunning-Krueger. What’s Dunning-Krueger?
jun 19, 2025, 11:17 pm • 1 0 • view
The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
jun 19, 2025, 4:44 pm • 1 0 • view
Because of the fools.
jun 19, 2025, 10:19 pm • 0 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 5:13 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeats said it better. But he was a poet so only to be expected.
jun 19, 2025, 4:30 pm • 1 0 • view
The arrogance of ignorance
jun 19, 2025, 5:02 pm • 0 0 • view
In this sad case read also religious for 'fools' and secular for 'intelligent people' ..#TANG There Are No Gods, no human has any 'divine right' of any sort, no-one is 'chosen', or deserve any more rights than any other human. It's high time delusional people are somehow barred from holding power.
jun 22, 2025, 7:22 am • 0 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 4:55 pm • 0 0 • view
jun 20, 2025, 2:51 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeats, “The Second Coming”: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/...
jun 19, 2025, 2:27 pm • 8 0 • view
And fools love to treat intelligent people like they are stupid, especially in front of other people!
jun 19, 2025, 6:24 pm • 10 0 • view
Dunning-Kruger effect!
jun 19, 2025, 3:49 pm • 10 0 • view
Exactly! Just like the late Charles Bukowski said...😇
jun 19, 2025, 4:40 pm • 0 0 • view
Sagan and Bukowski in agreement !
jun 19, 2025, 2:57 pm • 4 0 • view
The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. —Yeats, The Second Coming
jun 19, 2025, 5:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Several people are reported as saying that including Bertrand Russell. The quote I read said, 'fools and charlatans are so certain'.
jun 19, 2025, 6:16 pm • 0 0 • view
My late parents who both serve this country's military, taught us four kids to be pragmatic and uncertain. To investigate prior to descending toward unfounded contempt. And I've passed this lesson to my four children.
jun 19, 2025, 5:30 pm • 0 0 • view
Amazing how Professor Sagan anticipated the Trump era.
jun 20, 2025, 2:14 pm • 0 0 • view
👏👏
jun 19, 2025, 10:58 pm • 0 0 • view
Another one is accounts like this who appear to be actual figures in history, utilizing their name for influence, but it’s just a tribute account made by some random person.
jun 19, 2025, 5:40 pm • 0 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 2:39 pm • 1 0 • view
Intelligent people are not full of doubts, they are just able to accept evidence that may change their conclusions. They are not afraid of new facts.
jun 19, 2025, 3:26 pm • 6 0 • view
The core of wisdom is 'i dont know'. From i dont know, information is collected and an idea is formed. But the wise one recognizes that they can (and will likely be) still be wrong and shouldn't be obstinate against that possibility. That... is "doubt".
jun 19, 2025, 4:32 pm • 10 0 • view
We had a guy at work we described, "Often wrong, but never in doubt!"
jun 19, 2025, 3:19 pm • 3 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 4:30 pm • 45 5 • view
Reason is the Devil's Ass-trumpet.
jun 20, 2025, 3:15 am • 0 0 • view
Most people also don't seem to want to make decisions...they would rather be told what to do.
jun 28, 2025, 6:36 pm • 2 0 • view
Mark Twain has addressed a lot of that as well. Of course today he would be demonized by the media and guys like Jordan Peterson. Especially on matters of religion.
jun 21, 2025, 2:51 am • 0 0 • view
Fact.
jun 19, 2025, 5:31 pm • 3 0 • view
YES! And when the fools end up in a position of power, the problem is exacerbated.
jun 23, 2025, 10:47 am • 0 0 • view
Reasonable people may disagree, but I think that is one of the basic reasons the experiment of the big brain, known as human beings, may ultimately fail. The need for certainty in a world of mystery might well be our tragic flaw. It seems to make management of the big brain impossible.
jun 19, 2025, 6:30 pm • 2 0 • view
yes, the cognitive experiment may well fail in a handful of ways. I am trying to cling to hope that in another couple eons, we will figure it out. There are fundamental contradictions that evolution gave us though. For example, the “religion gene” does some good as well as great harm:
jun 19, 2025, 6:46 pm • 1 0 • view
The best hypothesis so far for the evolutionary role of religion is that it allowed us to cooperate effectively in larger groups than we could without shared imaginary constructs. And all of human culture basically relies on this capability. Unfortunately this wiring comes with tribalism as well.
jun 19, 2025, 6:46 pm • 0 0 • view
Could human beings have evolved without the tribalism that leads to our violence? Perhaps. But it’s unclear whether we could have gotten this far. The paradox is that the thing that makes us broken is the same thing that made us strong. How can we save that baby versus bathwater?
jun 19, 2025, 6:46 pm • 0 0 • view
Everything is a balance between "the good sort" and the "not-good sort," between "not enough" and "too much," between "ours" and "mine." Water, fire, community, emotions, equity, even life itself. The balancing act is so challenging that many of us take the easy way out, +
jun 19, 2025, 8:47 pm • 0 0 • view
depending on arbitrary rules created by others - some well-meaning, some not well-meaning at all - to avoid having to consider creating our own value systems. Those systems can't agree on what "making the world a better place" means, and if we could accept as a species that +
jun 19, 2025, 8:47 pm • 0 0 • view
my "better place" may not look at all like someone else's, and that's not only OK, but necessary for our survival, we would have more of a chance not to become a failed species. Just my two cents, but I think human existence is still iffy in the overall scope of things.
jun 19, 2025, 8:47 pm • 0 0 • view
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
jun 20, 2025, 2:12 am • 2 0 • view
I’m certain that intelligent people are better at running the world than fools.
jun 19, 2025, 4:24 pm • 1 0 • view
Off-topic but I just loved your new book so so much, sai! It’s absolutely fantastic. I can’t get enough of Holly, sista B rocks, and thanks to Tabitha for always bringing out your best! BRAVO
jun 21, 2025, 3:20 pm • 0 0 • view
One of my favorite quotes of his. Also a reflection of a true scientist. Thanks for posting.
jun 19, 2025, 5:50 pm • 0 0 • view
That's the Dunning Kruger effect. www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/du...
jun 29, 2025, 7:14 pm • 0 0 • view
Well now I know I’m intelligent!!
jul 1, 2025, 10:03 am • 0 0 • view
There’s always doubt right? Except in that we won’t live forever. Having just said that though…….
jun 20, 2025, 1:46 am • 0 0 • view
Dunning Krueger syndrome
jun 19, 2025, 9:04 pm • 0 0 • view
Yup
jun 19, 2025, 4:44 pm • 0 0 • view
Charles Bukowski said this.
jun 20, 2025, 12:45 pm • 1 0 • view
One of truest lines ever penned
jun 25, 2025, 9:22 pm • 0 0 • view
Trump and company should forever render imposter syndrome obsolete.
jun 19, 2025, 4:34 pm • 1 0 • view
That's because intelligent people actually think things through.
jun 19, 2025, 7:32 pm • 0 0 • view
Bc intelligent people are aware no one knows everything. Intelligent people are always learning. Intelligent people look forward while fools look backward.
jun 19, 2025, 7:14 pm • 0 0 • view
So true
jun 19, 2025, 4:13 pm • 0 0 • view
because smart people know they don't know anything; that everything has layers like an onion that can be peeled back and examined ad infinitum
jun 19, 2025, 2:17 pm • 4 0 • view
Agree, which can prevent some knowledgeable people from acting for a really long time. We are seeing some of this.
jun 19, 2025, 4:26 pm • 3 0 • view
QUOTE BY BERTRAND RUSSELL
jun 19, 2025, 6:22 pm • 0 0 • view
Sagan wouldn't lift a quote without attribution. Try to be better, if you're capable.
jun 19, 2025, 6:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Sagan articulated this sentiment in the book “The Demon Haunted World” as I recall, but no clue whether he used this verbatim wording. In short form venues limited by character counts, it is generally acceptable to omit the author’s citation from your citation.
jun 19, 2025, 6:49 pm • 0 0 • view
jun 19, 2025, 2:19 pm • 3 1 • view
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. ….. And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
jun 19, 2025, 4:39 pm • 5 0 • view
Confidence seems inversely correlated with competence.
jun 19, 2025, 11:12 pm • 0 0 • view
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” — Charles Bukowski
jun 19, 2025, 6:25 pm • 3 0 • view
When they say “the science isn’t settled” its kind of like saying “the rules of golf” are not settled.
jun 19, 2025, 3:07 pm • 2 0 • view
Ignorance and confidence are a really bad combination.
jun 19, 2025, 5:09 pm • 2 0 • view
they are bad for a lot of reasons in today’s world, but over the past quarter million years, a lot of people like that won short term battles to be able to successfully reproduce and control resources.
jun 19, 2025, 6:47 pm • 0 0 • view
Yep Just ask Stockton Rush Oh wait
jun 19, 2025, 4:40 pm • 1 0 • view
Very well put. Maybe intelligence X doubt is a constant, so infinite intellect doubts all, and zero thinks it's all figured out.
jun 19, 2025, 8:07 pm • 0 0 • view
When he was a boy our youngest son observed, “The people who know the least are the most sure of it.”
jun 19, 2025, 4:49 pm • 0 0 • view
both types are nazi types.. the don't-knows-a-shitler.. and the knows-it-all-better-then-you-doesler..
jun 19, 2025, 4:41 pm • 0 0 • view
Surely some revelation is at hand...
jun 19, 2025, 8:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Because fools don’t know what they don’t know, and they’re too narcissistic to try to find out. (Plus, they just don’t care.) 😒😒😒
jun 19, 2025, 6:02 pm • 0 0 • view
The worst are the total idiots
jun 19, 2025, 5:19 pm • 0 0 • view
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning...
jun 19, 2025, 4:53 pm • 0 0 • view
And of this, I am certain.
jun 19, 2025, 11:15 pm • 0 0 • view
Critical thinkers vs. lemmings
jun 20, 2025, 8:53 am • 0 0 • view
There's nothing quite so bold as ignorance.
jun 19, 2025, 5:15 pm • 2 0 • view
Fact.
jun 19, 2025, 5:33 pm • 0 0 • view
Dunning-Kruger vs. Imposter Syndrome is a bad thing.
jun 29, 2025, 3:32 am • 0 0 • view
How ironic, after your Epstein post.
jul 15, 2025, 6:06 pm • 0 0 • view
True
jun 20, 2025, 1:55 pm • 0 0 • view
I also saw this version attributed to Russell. “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
jun 20, 2025, 2:57 am • 1 0 • view
Me too!
jun 20, 2025, 7:15 am • 1 0 • view
I'm glad you got in there with this. I was about to do the same. In fairness to Sagan, it's possible he was knowingly - albeit clumsily - quoting Russell and acknowledged it but this was lost in the retelling (and retelling... and retelling...).
jul 1, 2025, 10:39 am • 2 0 • view
Definitely (not maybe) Bertrand!
jul 1, 2025, 10:43 am • 1 0 • view
Yeah, I know it's Bertrand Russell's quote. Which is why I said I was going to jump in and point that out myself.
jul 1, 2025, 11:13 am • 1 0 • view