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DAVID DARBY
We are all ignorant, just not about everything. We know a lot about some things, hopefully including our vocations. We have a working knowledge of other things. And we know nothing or a limited amount about many things. Ignorance, after all, is simply defined as “a lack of knowledge” and it is a part of life.
Ignorance can become a problem in personal and civic life when we start acting on things we do not know about, or about which we have a lot of false or inaccurate information. Will Rogers put it this way, “It’s not what we don’t know that hurts, it’s what we know that ain’t so.”
Having a U.S. president who lied or misled the American people more than 30,000 times during a four-year term, with the end result that many people believed him, is a sad illustration. Over 60% of Republicans still believe the Trump/MAGA “Big Lie” about the 2020 election being stolen. This form of ignorance continues to have tragic and destructive consequences: an insurrection, deaths, death threats for election workers, and voter suppression laws — to mention a few.
The Getting Better Foundation, based in Livingston, has produced a film, “Trust Me,” that examines how negative news and misinformation are creating a dangerous environment of distrust, fear, crime and mental health disorders. (trustmedocumentary.com)
“”Trust Me” offers a path out of the disinformation we find ourselves in,” writes Sam Wineburg of Stanford University. The film also points out that this is an international problem. Demagogues and dictators thrive on misinformation.
Isaac Asimov, chemistry professor and one of the great science fiction writers, observed years ago that this problem is in our culture: “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
missoulian.com
GUEST VIEW
David Darby: How much ignorance can we survive?
DAVID DARBY 13 hrs ago 13
David Darby
DAVID DARBY
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EmailCopy article link
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DAVID DARBY
We are all ignorant, just not about everything. We know a lot about some things, hopefully including our vocations. We have a working knowledge of other things. And we know nothing or a limited amount about many things. Ignorance, after all, is simply defined as “a lack of knowledge” and it is a part of life.
Ignorance can become a problem in personal and civic life when we start acting on things we do not know about, or about which we have a lot of false or inaccurate information. Will Rogers put it this way, “It’s not what we don’t know that hurts, it’s what we know that ain’t so.”
Having a U.S. president who lied or misled the American people more than 30,000 times during a four-year term, with the end result that many people believed him, is a sad illustration. Over 60% of Republicans still believe the Trump/MAGA “Big Lie” about the 2020 election being stolen. This form of ignorance continues to have tragic and destructive consequences: an insurrection, deaths, death threats for election workers, and voter suppression laws — to mention a few.
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The Getting Better Foundation, based in Livingston, has produced a film, “Trust Me,” that examines how negative news and misinformation are creating a dangerous environment of distrust, fear, crime and mental health disorders. (trustmedocumentary.com)
“”Trust Me” offers a path out of the disinformation we find ourselves in,” writes Sam Wineburg of Stanford University. The film also points out that this is an international problem. Demagogues and dictators thrive on misinformation.
Isaac Asimov, chemistry professor and one of the great science fiction writers, observed years ago that this problem is in our culture: “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
What can we do about this scourge of misinformation and disinformation? Responsible media are filled with articles and analysis now of why people believe things that simply are not true. Much of this focuses on the Internet and algorithms that reinforce people’s beliefs rather than providing facts. Another major focus looks at the mindset of individuals who are prone to believing conspiracy theories. Others focus on media that are dedicated to “alternate facts,” “fake news,” conspiracy theories, and political propaganda, especially on the far right.
But the fact that millions of Americans are not now tethered to fact-based reality is a dangerous situation, individually, socially and politically.
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