Greatness Is in the Approach, Not the Individual

Greatness Is in the Approach, Not the Individual

 

That's how it is: "It doesn't matter who says what, but this very saying...", importance refers to a saying, i.e. a phrase, an approach and it is not necessarily important something said by someone who is considered important! That is, indeed, great sayings can be said by people who are not considered great, famous, etc.

The quality of an idea or approach should be judged by its intrinsic merit rather than by the reputation of the person presenting it. Intellectual rigor, logical consistency, and empirical support are the factors that determine the strength of an approach—not the status of its author.

Why an Approach Should Be Considered Great

A great approach to any subject exhibits the following qualities:

• Logical coherence: The argument follows a clear, structured, and internally consistent reasoning process.
• Empirical support: Claims are backed by data, experiments, or historical evidence.
• Predictive power: The approach provides accurate predictions or useful insights.
• Practical applicability: It has real-world relevance and can be implemented effectively.
• Falsifiability: A strong theory should be testable and open to refinement or rejection.
• Interdisciplinary validation: Insights from multiple fields reinforce its robustness.

Historical and Intellectual Support

Prominent intellectuals and scientists have long emphasised that the merit of an idea is independent of its source:

• Bertrand Russell argued in On Authority and the Individual (1949) that intellectual progress depends on questioning ideas regardless of their origin, stating: "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd."
• Karl Popper, in The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934), stressed falsifiability as the hallmark of good science, underscoring that even the most renowned figures could be wrong.
• Richard Feynman, the physicist, famously stated: "Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts," highlighting that established figures do not have a monopoly on truth.
• Albert Einstein once remarked that "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth," reinforcing the idea that ideas must stand on their own merit.

These approaches illustrate that the intellectual status of an individual does not determine the validity of their views. Many historically celebrated figures held mistaken or outdated beliefs, while relatively unknown individuals have occasionally revolutionised entire fields.

Conclusion

The evaluation of an approach should always be grounded in reason, evidence, and logical scrutiny, not in the prestige of its proposer. While personal reputation may draw attention to an idea, it is only the robustness of the approach that should determine its greatness. True intellectual progress flourishes when critical thinking prevails over authority.