time is too short to worry about what’s merely possible. Nearly everything that is possible will never occur. The range of the possible is enormously larger than is the range of the plausible; the range of the plausible is larger than is the range of the probable; and the range of the probable is bigger than what (if we’re speaking of the past) has actually occurred or (if we’re speaking of the future) what will actually occur.
Part of what separates good thinkers (including those who are formal scholars) from poor thinkers is their wisdom in sensing what is relevant enough for analysis. Beyond an exposure to history and wide reading, I know of no recipe for instilling such wisdom. And I realize that if you lack such wisdom you necessarily lack the ability to understand that you lack such wisdom. We all think we have that wisdom; we all understand – correctly – that not everyone does have that wisdom.
From Professor Don Boudreaux.
The short version of this comes from Confucius
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
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