“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like many statements by Ralph Waldo Emerson, but in this case, I'd like to understand what a "foolish consistency" is (probably versus non-foolish consistency)

In this particular case I was attempting to allude to the fact that there's this poster that's consistently posting bad sample data which is kind of foolish if you're actually looking for a reasonable chance at good help.

I think the original was meant as an exhortation about dogmatically repeating prior actions which have become irrelevant or inappropriate for the sake of following "the rules". Very loosely rephrased as "Think for yourself, schmuck!", maybe. There's a fuller copy with the following text of the quote here.

The cake is a lie.
The cake is a lie.
The cake is a lie.