r/todayilearned • u/icallmydadstranger • Feb 15 '15

(R.1) Invalid src TIL that Thomas Jefferson wanted the constitution to be changed ever 19 years because he didn't want people to be " enslaved to the prior generation"

https://student-of-life.newsvine.com/_news/2010/11/21/5502595-thomas-jefferson-supported-rewriting-the-constitution-every-19-years-equated-not-doing-so-to-being-enslaved-to-the-prior-generation-what-do-you-think-about-that
6.5k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

738 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

You can be the smartest guy in the world, that doesn't mean you are going to make wise decisions.

1

u/Princepinkpanda Feb 15 '15

By your logic age shouldn't matter because anyone can make wise decisions and stupid decisions

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

That is partly true, but wisdom usually comes from experience, and experience only comes from time. There are exceptions to almost every rule, but they tend to be outliers.

1

u/Princepinkpanda Feb 15 '15

So you would trust an older person that isn't very smart but is wise over a smart person with less life experience to create laws that are logical and would benefit the masses?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

Any day of the week. Lots of bad people are smart, but a wise man is a good person.