Knowledge and Virtuous Ignorance

Knowledge IS a virtue.

Ignorance is not a virtue.

“The rejection of facts, the rejection of reason and science — that is a path to decline.”
(Obama’s Rutgers graduation speech in 2016)

Yet rejections of facts, reason, and science are still too common, both here and in so many societies around the world. How
do we address it?

Are there solutions?

Lack of knowledge is not always a fault in and of itself. Such is simply our natural state. That’s fine and somewhat unavoidable.

The real culprits are the proud, aggressive, trumpeted,

stubborn, and/or traditional kinds of ignorance, the kinds that masquerade as “higher truth,” the oppressive kinds, the jealous kinds, and the anti-intellectual and pseudo-intellectual varieties.

They wreak havoc. No class is immune.

Can the earnest pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, bound together with love and compassion/sympathy, become more widespread?

How?

— — — — —

I think there IS a certain kind of ignorance that CAN still be virtuous: the kind that avoids pretense, that remains open, that recognizes and accepts knowledge and wisdom when and where they appear or at least never fights them, the kind that works honestly, efficiently, and well, and that lives in uncontrived harmony as much as possible.

This to me is a wiser ignorance.

(But how do we teach or promote this?)

We are all ignorant to some degree. How do we handle that?

Seek knowledge, as a treasure, as we are able.

And when we are ignorant, be so wisely, in benevolent harmony with whatever knowledge there is.

#knowledge #ignorance