What a coincidence! I just opened Why Intelligence Fails yesterday, and Mark Twain's quote is right on the first page:
The trouble with this world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain’t so.
To your point on perspective: it helps to read across systems — foreign analyses (both allies and adversaries), US diplomatic cables, even Red Cell products. Older material can be just as valuable. In the end, it comes down to empathy.
What a coincidence! I just opened Why Intelligence Fails yesterday, and Mark Twain's quote is right on the first page:
The trouble with this world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain’t so.
To your point on perspective: it helps to read across systems — foreign analyses (both allies and adversaries), US diplomatic cables, even Red Cell products. Older material can be just as valuable. In the end, it comes down to empathy.
Well said indeed. Humility too.