How can certainty in leaders be dangerous? 20

"True knowledge is knowing the extent of one's ignorance." - Confucius
When he said that stupidity is about people feeling certain they have the answers, I immediately thought of Confucius' dictum about the nature of knowledge. He taught that one has to constantly doubt oneself in order to know the truth.

Confidence is mistaken for intelligence all the time. Same with charisma

never been more important to learn from our mistakes

Anthony Hopkins played Nixon, Hitler, William Bligh and Hannibal Lecter. He talked about the common factor among those characters as being their sense of absolute certainty.

"Deep doubts, deep wisdom. Few doubts, little wisdom."
"True knowledge is knowing the extent of one's ignorance."
-- Kong Qiu, AKA Confucius

Truer words never spoken. Large segments of society are so entrenched in their belief system that they are right and anyone who disagrees should be marginalized or worse will destroy humanity. Only stupid people believe they are right and have all the answers

He's describing many political leaders

I believe Mark Twain said "the people to fear most aren't the ones who don't know something; it's the ones who know for certain about something that just ain't so."

One of thee worst quotes I have heard way to many times at work is “fake it till you make it”… makes me sick!

I have been labelled as having an above average intelligence on multiple occasions or having been praised for the knowledge I possess/have acquired over the years, yet looking back at life, I did some really darn stupid things in the past (and hopefully a fair bit less in the future), begging the question when in reflection: "What the heck was I thinking?!" With leaders though, it's magnified due to the power over organizations these individuals wield; it's like maintaining leveraged positions in the financial markets, as both the upside potentials, as well as the downside risks are greatly enhanced. In the end, strive for wisdom while cultivating humility, irrespective of the particular life path you pursue!

"Knowledge is a paradox. The more one comes to understand, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance." People will learn a few things and think they know it all. The more I learn the more questions I have. I never claim to know it all. Maybe more than most lol. But I think insecure people would call me a know it all. Yet I myself have so many doubts.

Arrogance is what I’d call the issue at the quantum level. As someone who warns people about consequences, I’ve met countless know-it-alls. It’s worst when they try to get me to betray someone else for their benefit.

Good thing i dont think i have the answers, i just can recognize a problem.

Wow so stupid people just put someone in charge who is both incompetent AND evil. Lord have mercy…

I have to admit, though it hurts. A good many years ago, I caught myself saying "the more I think about it, the more right I am". I hope I learnt that I didn't know anything.

Totally discounting the fact people admire confidence and certitude, not only that, they demand it. Certitude isn't always borne out of stupidity. Life demands action, people demand leadership and no one wants a leader without conviction, the strongest conviction gets the vote. Intellectualizing over who is stupid and who isn't worth a damn thing, anyway we'll know after that bridge has been crossed.

"The fatal misstep of intellectuals is that superior intelligence within a specific realm can be generalised as superior knowledge and wisdom over all" Thomas Sowell

Socrates: 'I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing’

My old man always told me to never think that I knew everything. There is always something new to learn...