Knowledge is realizing that the street is one way; wisdom is looking in both directions anyway.
---Albert Einstein
The great physicist from the twentieth century made a lot of pertinent quotes that I've discussed on this blog...you can take his above one in different "directions". Allegorically, I think he's stressing the importance of thinking outside the box, beyond the standard constraints of established norms and rules. Literally, though, I think his example comes up a little short. So I'm driving along and come up on a one-way street...let's just say it's going right. If I'm going to turn onto it, I'm naturally not just going to look to my left to see if any vehicle is approaching. Simple knowledge of traffic requires me to also look to the right to detect any possible pedestrians or bicyclists coming from that other direction. I say this (and include this quote) because of the number of times I've been driving around town and observed how too many other drivers virtually ignore pedestrians and refuse to yield to them when they clearly have the right of way, especially at intersections. And even if they don't, the law requires motorists to yield to them. Having said that, let's get back to Einstein's probably figurative meaning. An initial perusal of any situation or issue may reveal a general structure governing it that can lead one to make certain initial conclusions. But that perceived structure may be incomplete or even contrived to mislead...as so many political arguments are being presented during this election cycle. Looking in both directions "anyway" means that, while I may be predisposed to accept a particular truth or opinion, I'm still instinctively going to make myself look at alternative and dissenting takes on the situation in question. And if it involves a one-way street, I'm looking in the other direction as well before I take any action...
