And Then, Ignorance Begat Ignorance

[MineralMan]

All around us, there is evidence of human ignorance. On a daily basis, we encounter people who don't know things. For example, even on Democratic Underground, a political discussion forum, we find people who have almost no knowledge of the Constitution, the founding document of our country, and who propose impossible solutions for serious problems.

Ignorance of history, science, languages, common courtesy and much, much more is all too common. In fact, it is far more unusual to find people who know much about anything than it is to find people who know very little about everything.

It is ignorance that is the source of much of the misery of humanity. The saddest thing about that is that ignorance has a cure. One need not be ignorant, since resources for learning about anything have never been so easy to find, nor as accessible.

And yet, people flock to things like the Creation Museum, where they find exhibits showing humans and dinosaurs together. Pure ignorance on display and being further propagated, in the name of religion. Weekly, people gather in churches to learn things that are not true, and that have no evidence to support them.

Belief is no substitute for knowledge.

Ignorance is not an incurable disease. The cure is everywhere and it is free for the taking. Knowledge is available, but is sought after too rarely. Deliberate ignorance is apparently incurable, and may be related to raw stupidity, which cannot be cured at all.

Sometimes, I despair...