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When I’m giving a lecture to a group of physicians, I remind them that they are unlikely to make a really big mistake and kill somebody, unless they are absolutely sure that they’re right. Certainty leads to tunnel vision and makes it difficult to consider possibilities beyond that which seems obvious to you. I acknowledge that it's difficult to practice medicine without a certain degree of arrogance, but I caution the doctors that they should fear certainty more than they fear ignorance. They should work to remain perpetually cognizant of their own limitations, always looking for mistakes and considering other options, or else they’ll overlook something big and really hurt somebody.
If someone decides to get a COVID vaccine, I think that’s fine. It may help. The data is not overwhelming, but it seems to be mostly positive. I think. But if someone recommends that 350 million people get COVID vaccines, then that person had better be right. If they’re wrong, that is a mistake that could hurt A LOT of people. And not coincidentally, it’s a decision that can’t be made without a feeling of absolute certainty. That’s dangerous stuff.
One of my favorite quotes from P.J. O’Rourke is “I’m a conservative, so I have a poor grasp of stuff I don’t know anything about.” This general disposition tends to make conservatives more reluctant to pursue careers in government, and even more reluctant to use the power of government, which tends to unintentionally concede more control to leftists. But I would argue that the conservative tendency to acknowledge the limits of our wisdom also tends to prevent conservatives from making enormous, catastrophic, Social Security-type mistakes.
This is a common source of miscommunication between conservatives and leftists:
Leftist: “I just bought a cool new Tesla!”
Me: “Awesome! That’s a really cool car!”
Leftist: “The earth is getting warmer. Everyone should drive electric cars.”
Me: “You’re a fascist."
Leftist: “But you said you LIKED my electric car!”
Me: “Sure, but when you go from a personal choice to dogma – gosh – you had better be REALLY SURE that you’re right. And how can you possibly be that sure? Which means you just want control over people. Which means you’re a fascist. I do like your car, though.”
Leftist: “You’re not making any sense.”
Me: “Neither are you.”
Someone once asked me what I thought the main difference was between conservatives and leftists. I told them that neither group had any idea what they were talking about, but that conservatives were aware of it. She laughed. I didn’t laugh. I just shrugged my shoulders.
Which, come to think of it, should be like a secret handshake or something.
Leftists, like Black Lives Matter etc, tend to use a raised fist in their rallies. At conservative rallies, we should just shrug our shoulders.
Not terribly inspiring, I suppose, even if it’s true. Which is a good metaphor for conservatism itself, I think.
There is a reason that Donald Trump seems so bizarre to most conservatives - he just doesn't fit the conservative stereotype. I don't think he's a traditional conservative anyway, and I think his support among conservatives demonstrates just how panicked conservative voters are these days. But please, this post is not about Trump. Please don't fill the comments about him. I'm talking about typical conservative voters here.
Young people tend to be leftists, because they have no idea what they’re talking about, but they think they do. That is the definition of a leftist.
Only as they gain experience and an understanding of their own limitations do they gradually become conservatives, unless they have Bernie Sanders-like abilities to never, ever, EVER learn anything at all over the course of their lives.
On the other hand, maybe I’m wrong. (Although this acknowledgment confirms my point. But never mind that.) Do you think this is a good distinction between leftists and conservatives? Not politicians, necessarily, but among the population at large?
Are conservatives defined by their humility?
Hard to say, I suppose. What do you think?
Discussion (75)
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I would have bet a week's pay that Thomas Jefferson said this:
but it is from a speech by Judge Learned Hand.
Yes. You are right.
Mostly.
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Pretty much agree. Except on some issues where some conservatives believe they have moral certainty, like abortion. But even then, should be approached with humility. Just isn't many times.
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That's half of it.
The other half is admitting that we can know some things--like that babies happen when something involving Man + Woman happens, and that the baby needs both of them.
Where Can We Find Knowledge?
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Yes, we American Conservatives have been from the beginning defined by our humility, as Edmund Burke made explicitly clear in his debate with Thomas Paine.
You are very perceptive. You might like studying Mises and Hayek some day when you retire. They make exactly the same point. To understand political economy is to discover that humility is the beginning of knowledge.
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