An complemented about his scientific achievements, Issac Newton humbly told his admirers that he was just like a child picking up pebbles in the ocean of knowledge. While humility is the hallmark of a great man, a hollow man is often characterised by boastful manners. A truly learned man is always conscious of the vast area of human endeavour of which he is ignorant. He knows what he does not know.
A shallow person with a smattering of knowledge about a handful of subjects is completely oblivious of his ignorance of most subjects. He shows off whatever little he knows to attract attention. It does not matter so long as he is in the company of ignorant people. But he thoroughly exposes his ignorance in the presence of knowledgeable people. Desire to show off one's superiority is observed mostly among people who are acutely conscious of their inferiority or worthlessness.
They try hard to conceal their lack of substance by putting up a brave front. While knowledgeable candidates facing an interview board are precise and to the point in their replies to questions, shallow candidates beat about the bush to conceal their ignorance. They consider themselves smart enough to browbeat the veteran and experienced members on the interview board. In ideological disputes in a political party, the most seasoned politicians will keep their counsel whereas the novice will move heaven and hell to prove their point.
The veteran leader intervenes decisively and settles the issue with his weighty opinion. Achievement oriented people take as their role models the greatest achievers in the world. Thus an accomplished batsman like Sachin Tendulkar would like to equal the record batting average of over 99 in test cricket of Don Bradman of Australia.
As he has notreached anywhere near this average so far, his achievements have not gone to his head. Not only individuals, communities and nations too loose their balance and indulge in tall talk. With half of India's population still ignorant of the 3 r's at the turn of the Twentieth Century, many Indians boast of their great civilization and dream of once
