Why are people so ignorant?

[XemaSab]

:shrug:

[JohnKleeb]

1. Its a secret

Just kidding, I dont know and I dont thikn I'll ever,

[ZombieNixon]

15. Holy Shit!

Haven't seen you in a really long time! :o

[In_The_Wind]

2. Cause they were born that way.

:shrug: and they refuse to change

[Heidi]

4. No, it's not a congenital condition.

Stupidity, or lack of intellect is a condition of birth in many cases, and I have compassion for that. But ignorance seems to me to be a willful lack of understanding or knowledge, and while I try to be practice compassion toward all sentient beings, it's more difficult for me in cases when people seem to have willfully chosen to ignore all existence outside themselves. :(

[In_The_Wind]

8. We are all ignorant until given the opportunity to change.

Refusing to learn can be a choice or it can be caused by a true inability to comprehend the facts.



I've missed you, gf. :pals:

[Heidi]

10. Yes, but don't you agree

that we can't really blame those who have a true inability to comprehend the facts? But those who willfully refuse, especially at the peril of the greater good, can be held responsible.

I've missed you, too, my sweet warrior woman gf. :hug: :love: Unfortunately, I'm facing an onslaught of work, and the arrival of a construction crew to build the new studio, so it'll get worse before it gets better. x(

[In_The_Wind]

11. I totally agree with you!

Those who refuse to see the peril should be held responsible in this lifetime.





I'll be sending you positive energy and holding you in my heart while you are going through the turmoil of construction.

[KitchenWitch]

19. I believe there is ignorant and there is just not knowing

Ignorance, IMHO, is the state of choosing to not know something.

[enigmatic]

21. To me

is that a good chunk of people take the phrase "Ignorance is bliss" as a badge of honor...

[bridgit]

23. correct, as such 'ignorance' being then a baby's breath too near to...

nirvana what then = bliss

[Heidi]

3. I've always believed

that stupidity is a birth defect, therefore meriting compassion; ignorance, on the other hand, is a lifestyle choice, and it's a mystery to me why anyone would _choose_ ignorance. :shrug:

[Reverend_Smitty]

6. Well I've heard it is bliss...

don't know that for sure though...I suppose you could ask the typical Republican

[Heidi]

7. Most people would choose bliss

over truth, I believe. I'd rather travel the harder, but more truthful path and be in better company. That's a bliss of its own. See my sig. ;)

[RevolutionaryActs]

5. Because it's easy.

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Exactly what I was going to say.

[ZombieNixon]

16. Because it's easier to keep her ignorant than to try and explain about you

:P

[supernova]

9. Because thinking for yourself

is the hardest job there is.

Too many people right now don't want to bother. :cry:

[Dangerously Amused]

12. Most people would rather be right than happy.

I forgot who said it, but it's one of my favorite sayings.

Rev Acts made a good point, that being ignorant is easy: it allows one to claim moral superiority while at the same time being grossly hypocritical, and neatly sidestepping the issue of intellectual responsibility.

[NMMNG]

14. Several possiblilities

1. Because they were raised to be by their parents/guardians
2. Because their socioeconomic cirucmstances permitted nothing more
3. Because they choose to be

#1 and #3 are the typical culprits.

[Robeson]

17. If your are talking about the USA, it's because they live in a country....

...that does not promote intelligence, and doesn't want to.

[BikeWriter]

18. Uh, because?

[petronius]

20. I don't know - and I refuse to make even the slightest effort to find out

That's my answer anyway - another answer is that most people think they're not ignorant, and so asking/listening/learning is a task for everyone else...

[hfojvt]

33. You beat me to it

so I will add my little song "everybody's ignorant. In their own way..."

Hey, we all start out totally ignorant, and then we listen, watch, and read. Some of the things we hear, or are told, are not true, and some are controversial - open to debate (for example - John Brown, hero, or lunatic or traitor). Oftentimes, elaborate structures of belief are built upon beliefs which are later shown to be false (for example, a belief in the goodness of America runs into Noam Chomsky's "Year 501" or Howard Zinn's "People's History".) Other people do not do the same reading, or will find or manufacture flaws in opposing arguments rather than change long held or cherished beliefs. Anyway, of the total sum of human knowledge, even Marilyn vos Savant is probably possessed of less than 10% of it, and the sum of human knowledge at this point represents a very small fraction of what there is to know.

[bridgit]

22. the root word being 'ignore' it is a very simple matter = you ignore...

me, i ignore you; we ignore them, they ignore us, you band with them and you all ignore me = we are all therefore ignorant of each other as well as a great many, other-still, and perhaps even more critical components regarding which we should collectively not be

ignorance is not illiteracy...ignorance, is a form of 'un', or mis-applied intellect

[bridgit]

34. thank you for proving my point...

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[TimeChaser]

24. It's easier than homework?

:shrug:

[XemaSab]

25. Amen to that!

:toast:

[TimeChaser]

28. Whoo!

I'm thinking of changing the words in my signature (not the picture yet), but I can't make up my mind what to put there. :shrug:

[XemaSab]

29. Why don't you draw a picture?

You know, sum up your ethos in a 50x150 pixel space.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. There are other types of ignorance

There's one that could be called "innocent ignorance," which comes from not having or being aware of resources for information and learning. There're lots of people out there who don't think very much simply because they haven't been steered to anything that promotes thinking. (This could be a product of no. 2 in Buffy's post above.)

Such people need to be educated, not scorned.

[XemaSab]

27. I'm talking about

People who ought to know better.

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. Is that ours to determine?

:shrug:

[XemaSab]

31. I nominate myself for the job

:bounce:

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. You need a second

Better start lobbyin'.

[bridgit]

35. the motion is not seconded here...

[wildhorses]

36. due to laziness and the fact that ignorance is bliss?

:shrug:

[bridgit]

37. please refer...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=4941006&mesg_id=4943850

[wildhorses]

39. thank you! as you can see, due to my laziness to read the

entire thread I was blissfully ignorant to the fact that my reply had been posted in a previous response. which seems to prove my point most succintly...
did I mention that I am a dumbass? :silly:

[bridgit]

40. ^_^

:rofl: :thumbsup: :hi:

[mzteris]

38. NCLB......... n/t