“Who wants to be stupid?”
Raise your hand up!
Sorry.
Stupid question.
Nobody chooses stupidity.
Unless they’re stupid.
Recently, a pagan told me I was ‘an idiot’.*
This is not a helpful criticism.
What am I supposed to do about it?
I can’t solve this problem because…
…I’m an idiot!
I didn’t get this way on purpose.
Given a choice, I would have been smart…
…LIKE YOU!
So can you tell me how you did it?
How did you will yourself to be brilliant?
Go slow.
Remember, I’m an idiot.
Don’t just list your educational accomplishments.
I’ve been exposed to information myself.
Obviously, I don’t process that information correctly.
I don’t think like you.
I’m an idiot.
Share your insights!
How did you force evolution to produce such a genius?
…or did you just get lucky?
I hope not!
If it’s just luck then you can’t help me.
You’re powerless to overcome my idiocy.
And bragging about your intellect is pointless.
…Like boasting because you rolled a Yahtzee.
My current hypothesis is that intelligence comes from God.
…that reason is a gift from our Creator.
…I suspect that you didn’t set yourself up with your amazing brain.
I think we’re all idiots starting out.
Reason starts when we acknowledge there is a God.
From time to time, God reminds us of our ignorance.
Then we can ask for more wisdom…
…or not.
If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He will give it to you. God gives freely to everyone and doesn’t find fault. But when you ask, you must believe. You must not doubt. That’s because a person who doubts is like a wave of the sea. The wind blows and tosses them around. They shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. This kind of person can’t make up their mind. They can never decide what to do. (James 1:5-8)
But I’m open to other explanations.
I’ll take your word for it that I’m an idiot…
…if you can explain how you’re sure that you’re not an imbecile yourself.
*I will n0t link to the quote unless the author insists on being credited.
15 Responses
I think I agree with JZ.
There’s a difference between regular ignorance–because you haven’t been exposed to the information yet–and the willful kind, because you refuse to open your eyes.
But…then, maybe that’s not true ignorance. It’s really just FAKIING ignorance, isn’t it?
I don’t think FAKING ignorance is different from just ‘lying’ is it?
In the context of past discussions, ‘willfully ignorant’ has been used in place of ‘disagree’. Sometimes, after we’ve gathered as much knowledge as possible we arrive at different conclusions. That’s not ignorance or naivety.
Sometimes, after hearing your argument, I just think you’re wrong. In that instance, the term ‘willfully ignorant’ is not appropriate.
Yeah, I’m not saying I agree with all the times JZ chooses to use the term “willfully ignorant.”
Just with his definition in this context. 🙂
Nor is IQ fixed, it’s perfectly possible to develop it and increase it. Everybody is mm a journey, some choose not to do anything to increase their intellectual ability, surely that’s a definition of ‘ignorance’.
The idea that ‘Ignorance is a choice’ is too simplistic. Of course we can decide to gain knowledge. However, we cannot choose to eliminate all our ignorance.
Are you American? Do you use the word ‘ignorant’ to mean ‘naive’?
I am an American.
Ignorant means a lack of knowledge. I’m ignorant of what you ate for breakfast.
Naive is a kind of ignorance that comes about from a lack of experience. I am naive if I think I can paint my garage in five minutes.
You are correct that ignorance and naivety are related.
Here, ignorant is used to mean actively avoiding knowledge and learning. Children are naive but not ignorant. After all, they learn a new language in just a few years, they learn quickly. Ignorant people learn slowly.
I understand. I’d agree with you about naive as it applies to children. We would call somebody who learns slowly ‘dull’ or ‘thick-headed’ or ‘mentally handicapped’ (depending on how well we know the person). Ignorance would be a symptom of their dullness.
I’m trying to find a word that means ‘actively avoiding knowledge’.
‘actively avoiding knowledge’ = Wilfully ignorant.
Now I understand where you’re coming from, JZ. It seems that ‘Willfully ignorant’ is the best term we have for deliberately avoiding knowledge.
Not all ignorance is willful, however. I stand by the statement that we cannot choose to eliminate our ignorance. Despite living in the Age of Information, ignorance will persist.
In the Age of Information, ignorance is a choice.
Even in the Age of Information, ignorance is a certainty. We can’t choose to know everything.
Ignorance is subtlely different to naivety.
Besides that, have you guys got the painter idea what the post means. It doesn’t even sound English to me.
To simplify: None of us choose our intellectual capacity. Neither idiots nor geniuses get to pick their IQ.