The following quote is attributed to the Greek playwright, Aristophanes: “Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.”
We all have pockets of ignorance. No single mind can hold all of human knowledge. Ignorance isn’t shameful when reasonable people who, through lack of time or opportunity, are ignorant of a particular body of information. In fact, many people consider that having the integrity to say “I don’t know” is an admirable human trait.
However, a different type of acquired ignorance exists in our society today that some call self-delusion. It occurs when an individual chooses to accept a false belief as true, despite overwhelming factual evidence to the contrary, such as still believing that the Earth is flat, that the world is not overpopulated, or that human activities play no role in the current climate crisis.
Such false beliefs are not admirable. They are destructive to our society. Aristophanes probably placed this form of ignorance in the “stupid” category. Some people who hold false beliefs also proselytize them as though their belief is supported by facts. Psychologists call this phenomenon the “Dunning-Kruger effect,” which is an affliction of individuals who are ignorant of their ignorance. I think I know in which category Aristophanes would place this activity if he were alive today.
Glenn E. Rodney
Hesperus
