Ok, so this is 'off topic' in regards to Purdue basketball, but very much on topic in regard to posting on bulletin boards. A few years ago, I notice these two adjacent Proverbs:
Pro 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him.
Pro 26:5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.
The writer of these Proverbs surely understood that he was essentially contradicting himself in two adjacent Proverbs. I think he must be conveying the truth that we really have no good way to deal with a fool. This makes me chuckle.
We all know that feeling where we read something foolish and feel this strong impulse to keep that person from remaining wise in his own eyes. However, it is also clear to me that responding to a foolish post often leads us to being just as foolish as the original poster.
So, what do we do? It seems to me that the probability of me truly enlightening a fool is very low, while the probability of me acting like a fool is rather high. So, I tend to lean toward the first Proverb above and just try to keep quite most of the time.
Pro 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him.
Pro 26:5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.
The writer of these Proverbs surely understood that he was essentially contradicting himself in two adjacent Proverbs. I think he must be conveying the truth that we really have no good way to deal with a fool. This makes me chuckle.
We all know that feeling where we read something foolish and feel this strong impulse to keep that person from remaining wise in his own eyes. However, it is also clear to me that responding to a foolish post often leads us to being just as foolish as the original poster.
So, what do we do? It seems to me that the probability of me truly enlightening a fool is very low, while the probability of me acting like a fool is rather high. So, I tend to lean toward the first Proverb above and just try to keep quite most of the time.
