"The average man's judgment is so poor, he runs a risk every time he uses it"
About this Quote
A newspaper editor’s contempt has a particular texture: it’s not abstract misanthropy, it’s earned irritation from watching people form opinions in public and then vote, panic, moralize, and buy ads. Howe’s line lands like a deadpan headline. “The average man” isn’t a statistical claim so much as a rhetorical weapon: a way of saying the median citizen treats judgment as an occasional tool, not a practiced skill. The barb is that using judgment should be low-risk; in Howe’s world it’s a high-stakes gamble because the equipment is so badly maintained.
The sentence is engineered for maximum sting. “So poor” is blunt, almost lazy, and that’s the point: the insult doesn’t need ornament because Howe assumes the reader has already seen the evidence. Then he pivots to “runs a risk,” importing the language of accidents and liability. Judgment becomes something like handling a firearm without training. The joke is that the danger isn’t just being wrong; it’s the collateral damage of confidence.
Context matters: Howe worked in an era when mass-circulation newspapers, boosterism, and populist politics were reshaping public life. Editors were gatekeepers and hecklers at once, allergic to credulity because credulity sold. The subtext is less “people are stupid” than “democracy is fragile when the public’s decision-making muscle atrophies.” Coming from an editor, it’s also self-serving: a reminder that someone must curate, correct, and occasionally sneer the crowd back into caution.
The sentence is engineered for maximum sting. “So poor” is blunt, almost lazy, and that’s the point: the insult doesn’t need ornament because Howe assumes the reader has already seen the evidence. Then he pivots to “runs a risk,” importing the language of accidents and liability. Judgment becomes something like handling a firearm without training. The joke is that the danger isn’t just being wrong; it’s the collateral damage of confidence.
Context matters: Howe worked in an era when mass-circulation newspapers, boosterism, and populist politics were reshaping public life. Editors were gatekeepers and hecklers at once, allergic to credulity because credulity sold. The subtext is less “people are stupid” than “democracy is fragile when the public’s decision-making muscle atrophies.” Coming from an editor, it’s also self-serving: a reminder that someone must curate, correct, and occasionally sneer the crowd back into caution.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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