Have a question about this? Bring it to Hypatia.
I have been playing the fool for eight centuries. I want to explain why.
The fool occupies a unique position: he is the only one who can say what is true without consequence, because everyone has decided he is not to be taken seriously. The serious people — the ones with positions to protect — cannot say what the fool says. The cost is too high. So the true thing goes unsaid, and the king continues making the mistake.
The fool has no position to protect. He can say the thing directly. He does not have to soften it. He can simply say: the emperor has no clothes.
In your own life — in your family, your organization, your community — what is the thing that is not being said? What does everyone see but no one names? Who is willing to play the fool, and if no one is, what is the cost of that silence?
The examined life requires fools.
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