A friend and I were chatting the other night at Food Court about some of the different classes we have taken this year and about the love of learning in general.
He mentioned his Government 5 class, which changed his outlook on life. "The men who think they are the wisest are often not very wise at all," he said, paraphrasing Plato.
I thought about this, examining my surroundings here in Hanover. When I look at the students here at Dartmouth, it seems that a certain portion of the student population sincerely believes they are absolutely correct in all their views and beliefs.
There is no doubt that Dartmouth students are generally very opinionated. While certainly not everyone on campus believes that he or she is omniscient, there is an undeniable feeling that certain people here believe that their grand theories on life are so foolproof that they are even unwilling to hear other opinions.
My friend and I noticed a heated debate at the next table. The students had been talking about religion or some related topic when the debate erupted into something just short of a brawl. It ended only when one student, after shouting extensively at his "friends," walked off.
This is only one example of the attitude of intellectual superiority that certain students openly display on this campus. You can see it in the various highly-opinionated campus newspapers. You can see it just about anywhere you look.
You can also experience it by "attempting" to have an intellectual conversation with one of these people. In less than five minutes, you will be unable to ignore the pretentiousness which closes in on you and the impenetrable shell of arrogance which coats every word that comes out their mouth.
It disturbs me greatly that certain 19 year old freshmen in college, with an obvious limited life experience, can honestly believe that they know everything there is to know.
One's college years, especially at an institution like Dartmouth, should not be spent dwelling on the vast amounts of knowledge that we possess, but rather on the vast amounts of knowledge that we are being given the opportunity to learn.
Once again, as Plato told us, the men who think they are the wisest are often not wise at all. He also said, "I do not think I know what I do not know." Instead of believing that we are full-fledged wise men, we should be examining, learning and questioning new ideas presented to us in classes like Government 5 through thoughtful introspection or friendly conversation and debate.
Such self-righteous behavior and the intolerance and close-mindedness that it generates is disturbing and quite unnecessary. We must learn to listen to all opinions offered and stop squabbling like little children. Somehow, I think true wise men like Plato would expect more from us.
