From 'passive versus active' to 'the best of both worlds'

According to a celebrated philosophical paradox, too much rationalism can be fatal. This is the lesson of "Buridan's ass", a hypothetical scenario in which a donkey can't choose between a stack of hay and a pail of water.  The problem lies in the fact that the donkey is both hungry and thirsty, as a result of which it finds the hay and the water equally appealing. Unable to favour one over the other, it consumes neither and eventually dies.  Thankfully, as we all know, the investment community isn't populated by hyper-rational beings – less still by donkeys. An investor faced with a c...