Are you denying ignorance?

After reading so many "your side is pure evil my side is perfect" posts, I thought I had to bring this up.

How many of you can say you are truely denying ignorance? You dont have to say anything....just think to yourself.

Does your viewpoint begin with "I hate Bush....or Iran...or jews....or muslims....or blacks...or mexicans....or Republicans...or Democrats...etc"...and go from there?

Do you only believe the news from Fox...or CNN...or Jahidunspun...or world net daily...or BBC...etc?

Do you know for a fact that the Jews..or Bush...or Muslims...or the Reptilians...or Martha Stewart...controls the world and any and all evidence that says different is an obvious lie implanted by their Satanic...Muslim...Jewish...Christian...henchmen?

Do you believe that the only country that works for its own benefit at the cost of everone else is..America...Iran...Israel...China...Canada...Aruba....etc?

Do you believe that the world would stop all war, poverty, sickness, etc; IF we would Nuke the heck out of China...America....the Middle East...Russia..Texas...etc?


Do your posts only cover one side of any argument without given ANY credibility to any other side? Do you refuse to believe ANY evidence no matter how real that comes uncomfortable close to shattering your illusions of a black and white world?

If you answer YES to any of these questions you might not be denying ignorance.

Try admitting your pet country, political party, religion, etc MIGHT POSSIBLY be wrong now and then. It will go a long way to improving your credibility....not to mention your sanity.

I Could Be Wrong About This, But...

One thing I've learned in my short time on ATS is how dead wrong I can be about so many things. It's humbling, even for a self-focused egomaniac (dare I say know-it-all?) like me.

Essentially, hard-won experience has taught me that the likelihood I'm right about something is inversely proportional to how convinced I am that I'm right.

The greater my self-righteous indignation in a heated discussion, the greater my error -- and sin, if you will -- and I have always regretted being rude on ATS, without a single exception, regardless of whether I was right or wrong about a particular point.

The disgrace of being a jerk about an issue ultimately negates any satisfaction that may come from being right.

Hence my passion for Skepticism, which ultimately boils down to a philosophy founded on acceptance of our own fallibility.

Confidence and assertiveness can be positive things in the right context, but left unchecked can become arrogance and conceit. The consequences of these traits are self-deception, folly, discredit and misfortune.

Believe me, I know this firsthand.

On The Other Hand...

Thus, when in doubt, hold that thought, and never forget that no matter how certain you may be that you're right, there is always a chance -- however slight it may be -- that you're the one who is wrong.

The self-assurance we all tend to feel about our opinions is more often than not an artifact of the human tendency to believe only those things which reinforce our prejudices -- which themselves invariably derive from some degree of ignorance or another.

So be nice to those you disagree with, because they may in fact be trying to do you a favor.

The only thing you can always be sure of is that you can never really be sure of anything.

Kenneth G. Johnson

For me, I definitely feel, the more I learn, the less I actually know.

I particularly like the quote above as it seems to fit the way I feel...always uncertain and open to change


[edit on 28-4-2006 by NJE777]

I'm a fan of Robert Anton Wilson and his Maybe Logic



Back during the t-shirt slogan contest, I submitted: "There's more to denying ignorance than denying you're ignorant." I still like that.

All humans are arrogant to some degree..this is a state of our pre-evolved psyche,but ignorance is a shameful testimony to the weakness and laziness of humans to not seek the knowledge that could discredit their own perception of reality.
To seek the truth of knowledge will benefit mankind but to utilise the compassion of the human spirit will make mankind evolve.

I think there is a difference between Ignorance and Opinion. Similar to how weeds are just regular plants that people label as bad, racoons are 'bad' because they steal garbage, snakes are 'evil' because they crawl on their bellies and can kill you, etc. People have a generally accepted "right and wrong". The majority of people subscribe to these opinions, but there are plenty of people out there growing yards full of dandilions, hand-feeding racoons, and keeping snakes for pets. Who is to say which side is right or wrong? No one... but they are all entitled to their opinions and beliefs.

Some people think that weeds are bad and need to be exterminated. Others think that they are beautiful and grow as many as they can. I don't think many people would call you ignorant for referring to a certain variety of plant as a weed, except perhaps a botanist.

In similar ways, certain groups of people, news sources, political parties, countries, religions, etc are viewed as a thorn in the side of others. Is that ignorance?

I don't believe in Global Warming. Many other people do. I wrote a 1000 word essay on the topic with four credible sources to back up my view, and I got 98% on it even though my teacher didn't agree. Does that make me ignorant? No... it means some people have informed beliefs. If you blindly believe in something, that's not good. (For example, people supporting the death penalty even though it is shown to not have an effect on crime levels). But if you thoroughly research and look into your opinion and find something to back it up, I don't think that's ignorance.

If people have observed the outcomes of certain things to be detrimental to them, I don't blame them for acting against it. As long as they look at the other side and compare the pros and cons of each side of the argument.

I do agree that people need to step outside of the box and view things from other people's points of view before making a solid descision, though. The big thing is that people have to be flexible. When something challenges your beliefs undoubtedly, you should be willing to accept it and adopt a new belief system.

And of course we need one of these for good measure:



[edit on 28-4-2006 by Yarcofin]