Niet slim genoeg

Waarom we niet geloven dat, als iedereen maar een beetje redelijk wou zijn, we de meeste problemen wel zouden oplossen? Mensen zijn daar gewoon niet slim genoeg voor:

"In a political debate you feel like the other side just doesn’t get your point of view, and if they could only see things with your clarity, they would understand and fall naturally in line with what you believe. They must not understand, because if they did they wouldn’t think the things they think. By contrast, you believe you totally get their point of view and you reject it. You see it in all its detail and understand it for what it is – stupid. You don’t need to hear them elaborate. So, each side believes they understand the other side better than the other side understands both their opponents and themselves."

Uit: David McRaney, The Illusion of Asymmetric Insight (meer hier).

Het prentje: François Barraud (1889-1934), Le Malcontent, 1930.