Everyone is Conservative About What He Knows Best

That's a fairly well-known aphorism which was coined by Robert Conquest. But is it true?

I often find myself thinking about it. The strange thing is, it seems mostly true, but there are many counter-examples. For instance, Picasso and Dali were undeniably extremely accomplished at traditional painting and drawing, and yet they were revolutionaries. Or-- another example-- Charles Dickens knew the law-courts and government bureaucracy up close, and it made him something of a revolutionary. Another example is Hilaire Belloc, who lost all faith in the party system after becoming an MP. Another example is Bobby Fischer, who is often called the greatest chess player of all time but wanted to radically change the rules (I mean the literal rules of chess) in his later days.

I think it might be nine-tenths true, with one-tenth of strong counter examples.