Ignorance vs. Stupidity

A few days ago I had another nice conversation with my mother about an article she had seen, or been told about, I forget which, that was making the splash of the day.  This article, essentially, was citing some study done that seemed to indicate that alternative health proponents, and by implication anyone that didn't by into the main stream medical or news bull**** of the day, was pompous and arrogant.

I had to chuckle when she brought it up, because if you knew my mother, you would know that this would be one very tactful way of telling her son that he's become closed minded. So tactful in fact that I'm not sure that was her intention at all. But I wouldn't bet against it.

My response to this article was asking (knowing the answer already) her if there was any indication of what percentage of these arrogant people merely indicated a frustration with the endless reluctance of the average American to comprehend truth, let alone listen to it.  Of course there was none.

The establishment media and medical money making machine will attack anyone who thinks, or get there information, outside of the box.  Although they've been doing it for years, they're upping their rhetoric because people like that are becoming a serious threat to the establishment.  More are waking up to the reality of what is happening to our country, and at a much faster pace then ever before, so the establishment is sticking with what got them here.  The main stream media, who, using the cumulative adverse effects, on a grand scale, of a sickly and heavily medicated society that western medicine has cultivated for the better part of a century, has led that same society around by the nose for equally as long, and is now running scared as their house of cards, and  that of the establishment, is beginning to crumble.  Hence the article my mother mentioned.

But more importantly, I had to clarify, for my sake, whether that frustration came from encountering ignorance on a daily basis, or whether it actually came from the stupidity, in many cases, that followed.  We are ALL ignorant in one form or another and of many, many subjects that affect our lives.  I don't know the first thing about what many of my friends do for a living.  Not a clue on how they do their jobs.  I don't know how to bake a cake, or navigate by the stars, or operate a boom crane, or administer first aid (yet), or shoe a horse, or the density of a quark (if there is any), or millions and millions of other tasks and information that would come in handy.  But ALL of that can be rectified by simply LEARNING any one of those things.  Nothing wrong with ignorance as long as it ceases when the need arises.

Not so with stupidity.  As far as I can tell, the difference is if you don't know how to grow a garden, and you find out that soon the stores will be empty, but you still insist on fast food and don't stock up from the stores, THAT is stupidity.  Refusing facts for regurgitated misinformation, knowing you can't justify it or back it up, is stupidity.  It is a refusal to open your eyes and a willingness to remain ignorant, that moves one to that level.  THAT is what frustrates the so called "alternative thinkers" (rational folks) and THAT is what this article, I'm betting, is claiming to be arrogant behavior and attitudes.

Now IS there some of that in those circles?  There most assuredly is, but I've not come across it yet.  What I've come across is a sincere and tireless dedication to helping their fellow Americans wake up to the reality these people have already awakened to.  Does the tolerance for stupidity diminish over time?  Absolutely.  But can ya blame them?

When someone gives you information, verbally or otherwise, that is uncomfortable, you either satisfy your curiosity by verifying that information, or you do it to prove them wrong if that is your position, but you DO IT!  That is what these people did, regardless of their motivations.  And they had their eyes opened as a result.  The cost can be high, but it's secondary to the education.

The point here is to remind us of that group think mentality that causes us to abandon our own judgement in favor of a more spoon fed, convenient and intellectually lazy view of things. The truth, it is said, is often stranger than fiction.  Do your own experiment and see if you come to the same conclusion, then take another look at these people.  I'll bet you see them differently, if you're honest with yourself that is.