What Is ignorance - Essay Example

What Is Ignorance? Ignorance is a very interesting condition; what it is or isn't significantly impacts daily life on planet Earth. According to TheFree Dictionary.com online, ignorance is a state of being in which one is lacking knowledge, awareness, or information. It is closely related in meaning to and the noun form of the verb, ignore; to disregard or refuse to pay attention to something. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not stupidity; the lack of mental ability to understand or profit from experience. Lacking knowledge is a condition easily curable; whatever it is one lacks knowledge about, that information is usually readily available in books, magazines, on the net, or through networking with people knowledgeable of the subject at hand. Knowledge, i.e., personal experience, education, and/or practical understanding of information regarding a subject or situation, For example, if one is lacking knowledge about a particular kind of automobile; the simple solution would be to go to the internet and do a little research about that automobile. By doing a Google search on the internet regarding the make and model of that particular kind of car, a large amount of information is available almost immediately. Perhaps one could even take that knowledge further to go to a local dealership and test drive that particular kind of car. Then, one could speak knowledgeably about that car. It is not that the person is unable to understand the concept of that car or that he or she would be unable to profit from expose to that car; the issue is ignore-ance. Another way to relate lacking knowledge is when people take social and political issues and turn them into heated debates based on fear instead of knowledge about the details involving those particular situations. Fear is the direct result of incomplete knowledge about a situation; one usually fears the unknown. Knowledge is power, that's why many governments throughout the world don't encourage or permit quality education in order to keep their citizens ignorant and helpless. When we take a look at the social and political situations of these countries and compare them with ours, without knowing about the ignorance factor, then, we, too speak out of ignorance. It is not that we don't have the ability to understand what is going on in those countries, or that we cannot gain anything from realizing how their situation impacts ours; the issue is ignorance, perhaps ignore-ance. Lacking awareness is very similar to lacking knowledge, though functionally different; as well, it can be easily overcome. Awareness is the ability to feel, perceive, or be conscious of objects, events, or sensory patterns. Developing awareness is more than creating an information base, however; it involves the internalization of that information in a more cause effect relationship that creates a more personal connection to the subject one is being aware of. For example, one becomes aware of danger by taking in the sights and sounds of the surrounding environment and processing that information in terms of what safety means to them. They become aware through the personal connection of the environment to their personal beliefs about safety. It's not that they are unable to understand what danger means to them, or that they can profit anything by continuing in their path towards the danger. If one proceeds into danger, regardless of what is perceived, then perhaps ignore-ance regarding the dangers that are present is the issue. Another way to relate lacking awareness is when people enjoy the benefits of living in an industrialized nation of producers. They aren't conscious of the serious side effects involved with all those benefits. The costs, in terms of damage to the environment through pollution and stripping non-renewable resources, are never perceived; there is no personal connection. People who rush out to buy the latest update of something; new this or new that, when they have the same, functional object in perfectly good condition already at home, lack awareness that they have contributed greatly to harming the planet, not only now, but for future generations to come. These people have the ability to understand how pollution and stripping resources harms the earth and most of them indirectly profit from big business, therefore they aren't stupid. However, we can say that their ignore-ance is greatly impacting both big business and planet Earth. Lacking information is probably the easiest condition of the three to remedy. Information is a very broad term meaning essentially all there is to know about a given subject; every aspect of its being. As far as I know there is no such thing as a person knowing all the information there is about a certain subject, however, for one to conceptually have a highly functional working and theoretical understanding of a given subject is considered as being informed. That kind of information base is usually found through higher education, personal and professional research, or working in the field of study. For example, one is informed about nutrition when he or she not only knows the nutritional values of foods, but also how those foods are grown, transported, marketed, and how the body uses those foods to sustain life in the individual consuming them. Most people are able to understand the nutrition cycle, in the most basic terms, and all humans are able to profit by taking in what they need to stay alive, they aren't stupid. However, many are committing a passive form of suicide by not informing themselves with regards to proper nutrition and applying that information to their lives in a practical way, which leads to serious health issues; their ignore-ance is literally killing them. Another way to relate to lacking information is when people go to the polls to vote for an important decision or change of leadership in their nation. While it is virtually impossible for a person to know every single aspect of a potential leader or proposed legislation, there is a way to have a highly functional working concept of what's at stake based on the past record of the leader's performance or the legislation's intended impact on current conditions. If we fail to learn the lessons of history and make better choices for the future, we are destined to repeat the past experiences. What often happens is that instead of doing the research to become informed, many people just go and vote based on an emotional response or on what their friends are telling them about the proposed changes. Most people can understand whether a person's character will produce effective leadership or whether change is healthy and necessary; they can certainly see how they stand to gain or lose a lot by the choices they make. They aren't stupid; just uninformed. We can say that many voters lack sufficient information in order to make responsible choices for our nation; they operate out of fear and ignore-ance. Ignorance is a powerful factor in many of the issues of today. By being unknowledgeable, unaware, and uninformed, many people have remained glued to their seats in apathy assuming all is well. They don’t perceive the impending danger of living a life where status quo doesn’t represent the best interest of the people it involves. It's not that people aren't able to understand the issues behind current events, or that they won't be impacted by their decisions. They are lacking knowledge, unaware, and uninformed about how their daily decisions add up to a lifetime of either quality of life or misery, for themselves and those around them. They assume that ignore-ance will result in bliss. Ignorance is the shepherd of a large herd of beings, in this case human, which follows the shepherd wherever he goes and does what it is told to do. These beings have been lulled by the media into the daily routine of remaining uninformed, unknowledgeable, and unaware of themselves and their surroundings with regards to the way life realistically works here on planet Earth. They love the safety of the herd, where there is provision for most survival needs, constant companionship, and a feeling of belonging. They are fully capable of understanding factors that concern their wellbeing and quality of life, however they don’t see the need to do anything different as long as survival needs are being somewhat met. This herd doesn’t realize that the one they trust the most, this shepherd, is also the same one they will follow down the chute to the slaughter block. Their ignore-ance will literally kill them! Bibliography TheFreeDictionary.com. Ignorance. Stupidity. Knowledge. Awareness. Information. Farlex, Inc. 2011. Web March 20, 2011. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ignorance Read More