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