An Occasional Reader accused me recently of being one of the 100% certain people. I am one of "the stupid" according to a Bertrand Russell meme this Reader helpfully included. Or I'm "the worst" according to Yeats, below.
Of all the things that I'm roooly, roooly sensitive about being accused, perhaps being a "Certaint-ist" is one of the very worst. Right up there with being accused, by AI algos of being a "Luddite".
Yet I often quote the W.B.Yeats line from "The Second Coming", one of the few I've committed to memory:
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Clearly quote this because I see myself as "lacking conviction", even if not all. I mean, lacking conviction, as in "not certain", absolutely not 100% convinced of a thing.
Though of course having "passionate intensity" may not be a bad thing at all. One might not be all all "the worst" for having it, so it's a nuanced thing. But that's another issue.
I repost my post from 22nd July, 2022, "Certainty brings insanity". And republish below:
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Anyway, I do like them. All three, which are:
- “Know thyself”
- “Nothing in excess”
- “Certainty brings insanity”
I like that last one, which would be my answer to one of those quizzes “what’s your favourite hate?”.
Which I’ve always thought my “favourite hate” is: “Blind Faith”. As in W. B. Yeats from “The Second Coming”:
“The best lack all conviction,the worst are full of passionate intensity”.
Like religious nutters. Who will kill themselves while murdering innocents. How can we deal with those blinded by faith? Who have no time for other ideas, who are made crazy by absolute certainty?
As we see on the far Left and the far Right.
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[*] Ann Althouse, 22nd July, 2022:
That's a cute little BBC animation that I found after that Bret Stephens column — blogged here — made me think about the old aphorism "Know thyself." Stephens was talking about the "self-satisfied elite" who didn't understand the point of view of the non-elite. It made me think: How dare these people regard themselves as elite if they are self-satisfied? They are not educated if they haven't looked into the functioning of their own mind, especially if they satisfy themselves with contempt for others.
Here's Wikipedia on "Know thyself":
The Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself" (Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν, transliterated: gnōthi seauton...) is the first of three Delphic maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.... The two maxims that follow "know thyself" were "nothing to excess" and "certainty brings insanity." In Latin the phrase, "know thyself", is given as nosce te ipsum or temet nosce.
"Certainty brings insanity" is the least well-known of those aphorisms. It explains a lot!
Much more at that Wikipedia link, but — here — I'll just show you this cool painting from the 1600s, inscribed with the Latin phrase [Nosce te Ipsum. Know thyself]:
