{"id":6809,"date":"2016-02-24T18:43:42","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T02:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/?p=6809"},"modified":"2017-02-16T17:56:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T01:56:53","slug":"knowledge-speaks-wisdom-listens-hypercertainty-and-ignoring-opposing-views-undermines-advocates-credibility","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/references\/knowledge-speaks-wisdom-listens-hypercertainty-and-ignoring-opposing-views-undermines-advocates-credibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge speaks, Wisdom Listens: Hypercertainty Undermines Credibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Knowledge speaks, Wisdom Listens.”<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here’s my 1993 letter showing how national Political Pundits’ \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

over-certainty and their Firewalls against listening or learning,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

explains why they are not of classical calibre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

Thursday, January 21, 1993<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robin McNeil & James Lehrer<\/strong>
\n MacNeil Lehrer News Hour<\/strong>
\n 356 West 58th Street<\/strong>
\n New York, NY 10019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not Listening Undermines Advocates’ Credibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Messrs. McNeil & Lehrer,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Am I missing something?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just listened to your show on Zoe Baird’s<\/a> confirmation hearing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I’m expert on several subjects, and have an opinion on several more, \u00a0I’m happy to be right just half the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I find it difficult to understand how your guests can have such opposite opinions<\/em>, and yet each is adamantly always correct<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Is it futile for me to wait to hear someone on your show say —\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

“That’s a really good point Susan (or Irwin or John) just made. I hadn’t thought of <\/strong>it that way. I believe I’ve changed my mind.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does anyone truly care about reason unless they are genuinely able to say:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am willing to change my mind if presented with suitable reason. <\/strong>I could be wrong. Maybe I haven’t thought of everything.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You bring a multitude of thoughtful people and their reasons to the world<\/strong>
\n every evening. But when each advocates their conclusions without ever<\/strong>
\n having their positions changed – even slightly<\/em> – by the other thoughtful<\/strong>
\n people, I can’t help but think there must be better minds available.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Advocacy is fine, but aren’t true statesmen and stateswomen those who are<\/strong>
\n willing to listen and learn with the same degree of passion with which they<\/strong>
\n advocate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

But then. . . maybe I haven’t thought of everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Dilworth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carmel, California<\/strong><\/p>\n

——-<\/p>\n

Postscript – I never received any response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Knowledge speaks, Wisdom Listens.” Here’s my 1993 letter showing how national Political Pundits’ \u00a0 over-certainty and their Firewalls against listening or learning,\u00a0 explains why they are not of classical calibre. __________________________________________ Thursday, January 21, 1993 Robin McNeil & James Lehrer … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5024,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-6809","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6809"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8101,"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6809\/revisions\/8101"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daviddilworth.com\/pol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}