Short Bio of Bertrand Russell: British author, humanist, logician, mathematician, pacifist, &;
philosopher; tried to reduce mathematics to axioms; Russell's paradox 1902; co-wrote "Principia Mathematica" 1903; Nobel
Prize in Literature 1950
This article you are reading in the form of a conversation using quotations of one of the most revered intellectuals of the 20th century, and who like those such as Albert Einstein, are often quoted by unknowns, such as this writer Those in boldface are from a list of quotations that has a link for sources to show that they were actually his, and not apocryphal. Some of the sources are no more than other unsourced lists of quotes, but others are linked to his books, so we know are legit . I use them here to... well you will see as this goes on. By the way, I take the liberty of softening some of the words that come
from this source of the quote (which I recommend reading) such as "stupid man" is changed to "simplistic person"
A simplistic person's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate,
because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can
understand.
This has meaning to me, since I often have to use a bunch of words to convey my message. It's not unusual for someone to get peeved, and say, "Could you just put all that in one sentence!" Now you see why I changed the rude word to one that is kinder, since the people who are offended by my expostulations are my friends.
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This one is listed as tenth in the sixty eight in the website. Since it's more apocryphal than those with references to his books, I will further change one word, "instincts" to "beliefs" keeping the thought intact:
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his beliefs, he will
scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will
refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something
which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he
will accept it even on the slightest evidence.
This has now come under the social psychological rubric of "
confirmation bias." also included in academic fields such as political science and epistemology. Like so much of Bertrand Russell's work, his insights were the source of entire fields of research. His aphorisms included warning about the authoritative nature of academic hierarchies in the quote beginning "passive acceptance" below. This prediction gets little coverage in academia, as I'm sure he would have guessed.
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In looking over the quotes, this one has me worried; but I can vouch for its insightful wisdom. This one is from one of Russell's books that is on the internet,
Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5 (Russell couldn't have imagined that his insights would become instantaneously available to
anyone in the world with a few keystrokes on a magic device that linked
to a vast library in the sky)
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The following one has meaning to me right now:
"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important."
I'm currently involved in exploring something that to me is more than "terribly important" nothing less than preserving a conduit to "truth" in a world that seems to be addicted to fantasy, or "extreme political combat." I've even connected with Russell's intellectual successor "Noam Chomsky" and gotten one precious line of encouragement, which is only fueling my potential manic stage that is a precursor to the inevitable psychiatric sequelae. This is the "delusional" quest, the
N.Y. Times Appeals court distortion, for those who haven't seen it yet.
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The following sums up a theme for much of my writing, as this truism seems not only profound but accurate.
Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and
girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational
because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way
to win the favor of the teacher unless the student is very exceptional..
Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life.
It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader
whoever is established in that position.
It is not only boys and girls who become passive listeners rather
than active participants who weigh their own observations and tentative
hypotheses with that of the teacher, but the process is pernicious, as
passivity becomes the norm into adulthood. This explanation holds for
many areas of life, including lectures by theoretical physics at
respected universities,
(as explored here)
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The following expands on a description and explanation for the mass passivity that leaves an opening to those who can project authority, in any of its forms.
Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin --
more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary,
destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established
institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell
and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of
the world, and the chief glory of man.
While the above "fear" is widely true, there are a few for whom thought, the effort to understand that which goes beyond "comfortable habit" is a relief because they do not have such comfort in their own life. For these few, the solace is in exploring the why and how of the world, as being part of the game isn't an option. Whether the fame of genius or the infamy of destroyers, isolation," odd duckism" may be a factor. From that misfit Jesus Christ to
Ted Kaczynski, whose tragic youth and emergence as the Unibomber was a case history in how to create a monster out of a genius.
