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MattPrather comments on Rationality quotes: April 2010 - Less Wrong
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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell
I prefer Yeats' phrasing:
By the way, I am uncertain as to how to think about the quantification (number / proportion / "ballpark estimate") of real people who fit the concept of Russel's "wiser people", or Yeats' "best".
How far off would I be if I were to estimate the quantity of such wiser and better people as "less than one third of the population of any given tribe" ?
Is anyone brave enough to say it should be thought of as a drastically smaller quantity?
Is anyone brave enough to realize how much they themselves actually fit the description for the "fools and fanatics" or "worst" -- and then, after realizing it, actually become the better?
Or am I perhaps better off to not pick at the idea?
I'm quite comfortable to ballpark < 5%.
That is about my impression too. I'm less sure about the 'worst'. I'd go with up to a third but perhaps symmetry is intended.