“There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
ACTIVE IGNORANCE
It is one thing to be truly ignorant, as in the lack of knowledge. A child is ignorant about many things but eventually will learn a multitude of facts and skills to prepare him or her for the world. As a child grows, we wonder at their accumulation of knowledge and experience.
As one learns through education, inquiry, and experience, one should not prize ignorance. As the same time, if one continues to inquire and learn, it is not something for which one need be embarrassed. There are endless areas of knowledge about which we are ignorant to one degree or another; but if one is to engage in a discussion of an issue, one must mine for the facts and not be driven by personal bias or anecdote. Our obligation to ourselves and our community is to shed our ignorance in matters that matter. We have the skills and the resources either to learn what we don’t know or employ the services of someone who possesses this knowledge.
Active ignorance is something different. It is the affirmative election either not to seek knowledge or, when presented with facts that can be demonstrably shown to be true, to affirmatively avoid or ignore those facts. Why do people continue to cling to a position when it has been proven to be false? Most obviously, t is hard to change one’s views when they have been espoused consistently and publicly. Altering one’s position requires the humility to accept that one might be wrong—and that’s something people aren’t programmed to do. It may require acknowledging flaws in one’s own reasoning. Perhaps it can be ascribed to pig-headedness. Perhaps, one might believe that admitting to one error is a sign of weakness that might call into doubt their other positions. But perhaps it is as simple the unwillingness to abandon one’s tribe when the positions themselves become matters of faith. And one can’t really argue with faith. Once holding a particular position becomes nearly religious in its scope then, right or wrong, logic will be abandoned and fealty will be paid, even in the face of falsehood.
The active ignorance of the Trumpist faithful is at this point both laughable and frightening. Each revelation of each act of malfeasance is met with “it’s the liberal press” or “but he’s really strong and says what needs to be said” or “the other guys were just as bad” or “it simply isn’t true.” Things are just factually correct, things caught on tape or in writing are dismissed out of hand. It reminds me of the woman who comes home to find her husband in bed with another woman. She stands aghast and speechless, only to hear her husband say ”Come on, who are you going to believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?”
I so agree with this