Everyone is ignorant about many things. For instance, I don't have the foggiest idea about how to assemble a hydrogen-powered arcjet engine. I'm no rocket scientist.
There are two basic reasons why people remain ignorant.
1) They do not have the ability to acquire and retain the new information
2) They do not have the desire to acquire and retain the new information
Let's look at it. Most fields of study appeal to individuals in different ways. One person might have a knack for anatomy and become a surgeon. Another might have an innate ability to fix automobile engines and becomes a mechanic. Which one is smarter? It would be completely arbitrary to make such a judgment based on chosen career paths. Mechanics, perhaps, need less schooling than a surgeon does, but a surgeon only needs to know the anatomy of one body type: humans. On the other hand, mechanics need to know the insides of any number of makes and models of cars and trucks - foreign and domestic. Your local mom-n-pop grocer may have a PhD in geology, physics or art history and you would never know it as you purchase that pack of gum. And that nerdy computer programmer you know could possibly win 2 million bucks on Jeopardy. One's chosen career path has something to do with interests and abilities, but not necessarily one's capacity to assimilate new information when it is presented.
If a person's intelligence is not limiting them, then a person's desire to know something becomes the major factor deciding whether they learn it.
(What follows is an example. I do not have anything against French Impressionists.)
If I do not want to know more about French Impressionism, then I am unlikely to go out of my way to study up on it. I am also unlikely to listen closely to someone trying to explain it to me. Now suppose that I, for some reason, have a deep animus towards impressionists. Now whenever I encounter a situation where impressionists come up, I might actively resist learning anything new, or perhaps what I learn is tainted or twisted by my prejudice.
With this example, you can see that I have become self-indulgently ignorant of French Impressionism. The things that I know are combined with my feelings of dislike and become an intractable view. No amount of logic or discussion will convince me otherwise. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." Until the desire to open my mind is there, my opinion wont change.
There used to be something called open-mindedness. A person does not necessarily have to change their mind to have an open mind. Too many people think the opposite. If I know that by mathematical definition 2+2=4 then it is not closed minded to reject the idea that 2+2=5. However, if someone wanted to explain the logical progression of mathematical steps on how they reach such a conclusion, then I would listen and attempt to understand their point of view. It would not do me any good to project onto this individual my own prejudice that a pair of 2s will be 4. Even if I am right, and 2+2 remains 4, it would behoove me to understand where this "5" person is coming from. They could actually have a rational explanation from their point of view. Or they could be a crackpot who is simply trying to irritate me. I should find out which.
Finding out how the other person thinks is key to understanding why they think the way they do. Seemingly intelligent people are on both sides of almost every issue. From abortion to national health care, school vouchers to school busing, the war on drugs to the war on terrorism.
Many issues are demagogued to the point where all rational thought is dismissed. Too many people have ceased to think out things and rely completely on their feelings. Feeling are good, they lead to compassion and service. But if all decisions were based on feelings without incorporating some pragmatism, then you will end up making more mistakes than need be.
No comments:
Post a Comment