April Fool's

Dear Victorious,

The supposed "all fool's day" is coming up the first of April. What would you say is the contemporary definition of a fool?

Lawrence P. - Redmond, WA

Dear Lawrence,

We often think of fools as being someone who is stupid, does stupid things --- or has been tricked. People may refer to an experience as leaving them feeling "as if they had been played for a fool." In other words, our society seems to view fools as people who don't know.

I think there is a better definition. A fool is someone who relies on his (or her) own understanding. They tend to believe that their understanding is both comprehensive and accurate. (It is neither.) But they proceed to process their thinking, make decisions, take actions and respond as if the universe of understanding which they posses is all there is.

So in my opinion, a fool is someone who does not allow for the fact that his or her understanding (in any situation) is probably flawed and very likely to be incomplete.