Wisdom of Foolishness
In this interview with Hans Reiser, creator of the ReiserFS journaling file system in Linux, he explains part of his design theory:
“A willingness to believe that data indicates that one is wrong, and sometimes perhaps that everyone is wrong, is essential to a scientist. Boys think that being brilliant will make them a great scientist. Men know that, in the words of Sir Francis Bacon “men are imperfect mirrors of the creator”. and that rigor, thoroughness, and a belief in data over consensus are what really matters. I am a blind man with a stick, and my contribution to society is that I ignorantly poke where none have poked before because I am more sure that I am such a fool I’d better check it than anyone else in my field. My only true insight into the field is knowing what a fool I am.”
Not to totally turn an insightful technical article over to more spiritual lines, but…
What if more people in the Christian religion demonstrated such humility?
Might we end up with something more like this?
“A willingness to believe that I am wrong, and sometimes perhaps that everyone is wrong, is essential to being a follower of Jesus. Youths think that being good will make them a great Christian. The wise know that, in the words of Sir Francis Bacon, “men are imperfect mirrors of the creator,” and that rigor, thoroughness, and a belief in Jesus’ words are what really matter.
I am a blind man with a stick, and my contribution to community is that I ignorantly poke where many prefer not to because I am more sure that I am such a fool that I’d better check again because I am so good at being self-deceived. My only true insigh into following Jesus is knowing what a fool I am.”