Too many people – especially those on the Left – use the insult, “you’re ignorant” in order to shut up and dismiss someone that disagrees with them. We need to clarify this term as it is one of their favorite tricks for shutting down an opposing view – especially those that may be more solidly rooted in history, facts, and logic. Not only does using this ad hominem fallacy make them sound more intelligent and more educated than those they are accusing of being ignorant, they most often use it when they have been cornered and it thus becomes a weapon of deflection.

Ignorance has nothing to do with native intelligence, acquired knowledge, or education or the lack thereof.

Some of the most truly ignorant people I’ve ever struggled through a conversation or debate with have been highly ‘educated’ people who believe themselves to be and who are regarded as at least marginally intelligent.

Contrarily, some of the most intelligent and rational and sound-thinking people I’ve met have had no college degree and some had not even finished high school.

What could possibly be the difference between the two?

The first group were close-minded and did not want to have their beliefs and especially their agenda threatened by logical debate. They simply wanted to pontificate. They wanted to decree what is and what is not and to have people follow them. Blindly. Without questioning. Without bringing up a contrary point of view.

The latter group, even those who have a very strong sense of beliefs, of values, who will fight you physically if you try to strip them of their God-given right to disagree and to voice that disagreement, yet patiently hear what the other side has to say. They will listen and consider it and they will accept any part of the argument that they consider to be closer to Truth than what they had come to believe.

The first group ignores the opportunity to learn what is closer to Truth than what they had already decided is Truth. These are the individuals that carefully guard the precious rings and crowns they have been awarded, either by others or by their own pride, and who refuse to expose those metals to anything that could tarnish them.

The latter group is willing to consider new information, a different vantage, a different perspective if it leads them to what is closer to Truth, to a fuller understanding of the topic, to a more soundly debated position than what they had come to believe. These are individuals who use the fire, the anvil, and the hammer to forge away the impurities of their understanding in order to strengthen and purify their understanding.

The first group – regardless of what they and others consider to be their native intelligence, regardless of their college degrees and the respect-commanding profession they have selected and mapped for themselves – are truly ignorant. The ignore the opportunity to learn what is Truth if that means rejecting what they have already convinced themselves is Truth.

The latter group is the group of truly open-minded thinkers. This is the group that eventually attains a degree of wisdom that the first group can never hope to attain. They acquire that wisdom regardless of how limited their knowledge and education is because what they have come to know as Truth is more purely formed than the truly ignorant.

So let us clearly define ignorance:

The root of the term (and the essence of its meaning) is ignore. When someone ignores something, they are making a conscious, deliberate decision to turn away from it. This may be a warning light on their dashboard, a small leak in their basement, or an idea they cannot refute and that challenges their own beliefs.

If they ignore routinely in matters of knowledge and learning and perspective, they are living in a state of ignorance,  which is a perpetual ignoring of the opportunity to learn what is closer to Truth. This is reflective of an attitude, a character trait, a character flaw, actually, because it indicates that they would rather believe what they know to be untrue because that makes them feel either comfortable or superior to their opponent.

Ignorance has nothing to do with intelligence, education, or reputation. It is an attitude, a perspective, a view of one’s own learning and beliefs and reputation that disallows an individual to consider an alternate view or new information that may lead them to changing their view, their beliefs, or their agenda.

 

 

 

 

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