Janan Ganesh wrote a great piece in the FT on Brent Snowcroft, a conservative advisor to four U.S. Presidents, and how we need to heroise the doubters. As an anti-fanatic, it's always disappointing to see a stereotypically charismatic, "go-get-er", smooth-talking radical that can motivate and inspire but lacks substance convince others that they have the answers. Steak without the sizzle > sizzle without the steak (think Trump Steaks). I hope that all of us - including the fanatics of every flavor, be it political, religious, hobbyist, or multi-level marketer - can come to appreciate how valuable an honest and regular assessment of our internal dialogue can improve our decision-making abilities. Finding where logic and reason is being pushed out by fervor is challenging but possible. Good luck! A few favorite quotes:
"Obituaries of the aide to four presidents, who died this month, describe a career of radical prudence. He helped to winkle the last US troops out of Saigon. He discouraged western triumphalism as the Berlin Wall fell. He advised friends against the invasion of Iraq. And all of this as a man of the right. It was a life spent averting and undoing the mistakes of true believers, to vastly more resentment than thanks."
"The greatest public calamities do not stem from any one belief system, but from fervent belief itself. The Iraq war remains a haunting case in point but the crash of 2008 also fits the pattern. More or less plausible ideas — about the self-correcting nature of markets, about the competence of elites — were held too blindly, until the reckoning came."
"People of total, uncontaminated belief exist, and some are lionised for their passion. It is what Robert Harris calls the “keep the show on the road” types who pass without glory, perhaps because their best deeds are acts of omission. But the non-doing of stupid things is as precious as any crusade for positive change. Scowcroft’s life was a prolonged demonstration of that point."
"The insinuation is always that there is something timid and anti-chivalric about not committing to an epic cause. The more this stigma holds, the more prone our societies become to errors of enthusiasm. It is a kind of systemic risk. The way out is to heroise the doubters."
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