Some Timely Remarks from Some Very Old Observational Studies
Confusion (not to mention "biggest foolishness") is in the majority
“Observational study: In fields such as epidemiology, social sciences, psychology and statistics, an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints.”
An abundance of confusion currently plagues much of humankind, evoking all kinds of conflicting interpretations and representations of reality. With regard to this plague, an old, useful compendium of observational studies of the kinds and degrees of confusion and foolishness that homo sapiens is constitutionally prey to was put together about 2400 years ago, reportedly by the Taoist writer Chuang Tzu (“Zhuangzi” in the Romanized Pinyin representation of the Mandarin Chinese language).
With regard to human confusion, Chuang Tzu observed:1
“He who knows he is a fool is not the biggest fool; he who knows he is confused is not in the worst confusion. The man in the worst confusion will end his life without ever getting straightened out; the biggest fool will end his life without ever seeing the light. If three men are traveling along and one is confused, they will still get where they are going – because confusion is in the minority. But if two of them are confused, then they can walk until they are exhausted and never get anywhere – because confusion is in the majority. And with all the confusion in the world these days, no matter how often I point the way, it does no good. Sad, is it not?”
Taking the sample of the results of the last two American elections to draw an inference about the global state of the human population, it appears that -- for the time being at least -- confusion is in the majority and humanity will not get where the confused majority or the belabored minority would like it to go. The former is actually good news.
As to both those less confused and those more confused, Chuang Tzu had this to say:
“If a man, having lashed two hulls together, is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot-tempered the man may be, he will not get angry. But if there should be someone in the other boat, he will shout out to haul this way or veer that. If his first shout is unheeded, he will shout again, and if that is not heard, he will shout a third time, this time with a torrent of curses following. In the first instance, he wasn’t angry; now in the second he is. Earlier he faced emptiness, now he faces occupancy. If a man could succeed in making himself empty, and in that way wander through the world, then who could do him harm?”
Living man is unavoidably “occupancy”, however. That’s the bad news because we all have the instinctual habit of blaming those around us (instead of ourselves) for our difficulties, and we’re all therefore subject to blame and harm from our fellows.
All Chuang Tzu quotations are from the Burton Watson 1968 (1st edition) translation of “The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu”. The most recent edition (2013) is referred to as “The Complete Works of Zhuangzi”. See https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Zhuangzi-Translations-Classics/dp/0231164742/ref=sr_1_9, https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Chuang-Tzu/dp/0231031475/ref=sr_1_1, or https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31357587116&cm_sp=SEARCHREC-_-WIDGET-L-_-BDP-R&searchurl=ds%3D20%26kn%3Dthe%2Bcomplete%2Bworks%2Bof%2Bchuang%2Btzu%26sortby%3D17