The Quiet Dignity of Uncertainty

The reigning vice of our age is a smug overconfidence in rendering verdicts, an affliction that affects the left and the right of the political spectrum.

Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” in the Rodin Museum in Paris. Public Domain

Commentary

The late comedian Norm Macdonald performed a routine about the modest, subversive pleasures of ignorance. At parties, he would openly admit that he had no idea what had happened in the world that day. No news, no opinions, no pre-packaged outrage. His views were formed from the last thing he had read or seen on TV, and were likely to change by morning. He would look around the room for other simple-minded people and join them. Together, they enjoyed the rare luxury of not having to know, reveling in their common ignorance.