Slow Havamal: 26

In the 26th verse, a stupid man can think himself knowledgeable as he tucks himself away in a corner, but when men ask him questions, he has no answers.

A corner is a privileged space. There’s only one way in and one way out, so a man who lives there is relatively safe from assault. If he were a stupid man, he could hide himself away, free from the rest of the world, and quickly convince himself that the few things he knew were in fact all that one needs to know to get by. Since there’s no one else in the corner, there’s no one to show up his knowledge, and plenty of room to imagine it inflating to the point that it exceeds all the other people he suspects inhabit the broader room and the world outside. He’s unlikely to find anything he says contradicted, and taking no risks, can justify any position with his survival.( Read more... )