To Those Who Defend Ignorance

Dear (insert your name here),

As I write this blog post, I frankly feel disheartened and disturbed because, after a discussion with some people earlier today, it became clear to me that my belief that knowledge about certain subjects is fundamentally important and good is not held by many. In fact, I've begun to think I may be in the minority.

Lest I sound hyperbolic, I'd recommend anyone reading this to go to youtube and search for "Lunch Scholars." In this video, students are asked random questions, and the results are pathetic. One girl thought that the Vice President of the United States was Osama bin Laden.

To be clear, I don't think the Internet is evil nor do I deny that technological changes have radically altered our culture - for instance, in most cases it is more important now that someone know how to find an answer than derive the answer him or herself. This doesn't bother me in the case, say, of a high school student interested in English using a calculator to do trigonomatry problems. But I'd hope that, even if you use a calculator to add, you still know how to add.

Most would probably agree that basic math skills are necessary but, sadly, it's hard to find a consensus about the importance of much else. Literature is all but considered useless except to those who are born with a love for stories and language, history is considered irrelevant to the present, and science is considered important only if you intend to become a scientist. I don't mean to say these generalizations or any specific anecdotes I could provide are conclusive evidence, but they do indicate a disturbing trend.

What I want to do here, rather than try to draw conclusions based on statistical information (all of which, incidentally corroborates the theory that we are growing less and less proficient in most, if not all, academic areas), is defend knowledge to those who would defend ignorance.

In the first place, there is a practical advantage to knowing certain information. Take history - without a general understanding of the past, it becomes impossible to take reasonable actions in the future. Moreover, if the public had no concept of anything that had happened in the past, not only would they be easy prey to the more manipulative and ruthless among us, but it's easy to see how society could erode completely. Secondly, I simply don't believe that everyone fact-checks everything they hear. Dictionary.com may exist, but does everyone instantly look up the meanings of words they don't know?

I don't intend to say much more partly because I don't want nor would dare to try and put myself in the position of explaining the value of knowledge as a concept and partly because I honestly find it difficult. I believe I could hold my own in a debate say about abortion, capital punishment, or religion, but what could I say to someone who argues that there is no such thing as logic? that freedom is evil? that the world doesn't even exist? I know these arguments have been had, but for me, the more basic the concept, the harder it is to explain. If, for instance, you believe slavery is good and freedom evil, then I don't know where to even start. Perhaps I just need to learn more/become a better debater.

In any case, my final point is that, while many I've spoken to talk about how impractical most knowledge is in relation to their everyday lives, my response is that life can be far more than simply the exercise of survival-based rituals. True, you could spend your life only eating, drinking, reproducing, and watching TV, but you don't have to, and the benefits that learning offers are as real as any other pleasure. Feeling proud of a hard-earned accomplishment is a far greater feeling than the fleeting happiness that comes from indulging in junk food. Knowing that you have mastered a subject puts you in a much better position than someone who has to look up the most basic facts. And, most importantly, by learning and discovering passions that make you an individual, you are able to take part and shape the subjects themselves - something those who think the Vice President is Osama bin Laden are unlikely to ever do.

Have I adequately argued for the importance of knowledge? I don't know - perhaps it would take much more than a single blog post to prove a point I believe to be obvious and, if so, I'm happy to have that conversation through comments. But I will say that in a time when the most basic ideas of right and wrong are constantly being tested, and more forces than ever before are hard at work to deliberate mislead the public (while those who are meant to protect against them are by and large incompetent), I believe it is vital to encourage intellectual growth, for it will not only ensure the continued maturation of humanity, but may even hold the only hope left of an enlightened society that celebrates constructive knowledge and not destructive ignorance.

-Matt