We live in a world where terrible things can and do happen. Take a good look at the events of the 20th century for example: World War I, World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, and The Gulf War are all events that brought about destruction in one way or another.

Before I go any further, this has nothing to do with the armed forces or anything like that and nothing to do with just the United States. During the 20th century, there were more wars, policing actions, acts of terrorism, assassinations as well as all sorts of violent actions all across the world.

This has nothing to do with guns, bombs, or chemical agents. To quote the Fallout franchise, "War never changes." You can pick any century you like, you will find the same things happening for the same reasons, with the only difference being the technology that is used.

Destruction is a constant that has been embraced by humanity from as far back as when that first person realized that they were not alone in their cave. This melodramatic reference points to the core of every conflict, and at the same time is a guiding force behind the advancement of our species.

Technology has always been a tool to help close the gap to something that everyone is born into. This core element of humanity stays with us long after we become adults, and affects our minds in a way that sometimes we are not aware that it is influencing our choices, thoughts, and actions.

One word represents everything I have mentioned and more. It affects practically every aspect of a person due to the way it grows in tandem with us. A form of this word is used as a dismissal or accusation within various disagreements, but it is a word that we all are even if we would rather not admit it.

Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or information. Nobody knows everything; therefore, we are all ignorant when it comes to the things we are unaware of. It is nothing to get offended over, it is simply part of the human condition. From birth, we are ignorant of practically everything, and as we learn, our knowledge expands, but what we do not know expands as well.

Examples

When one is ignorant of any given topic, person, place, or thing it is often used against them in some way, shape, or form. A mostly harmless way ignorance is commonly used is in entertainment. The movies, TV shows, live performances, and even printed material digital or otherwise exploit what you do not know to capture your interest in what that particular bit of entertainment has to offer.

The destructive element of ignorance starts to rear its head in two flavors: willful ignorance and nondisclosed ignorance. Ignorance in and of itself can lead to speculation, fear, hatred, and violence, but these two have stood the test of time. There have and will always be people who do not want to know, and those who do not want you to know.

Willful ignorance is perhaps the most self-destructive, it places a person in a slightly dilutional state. It is a state of mind that limits an individual’s potential as well as their perception of reality.

The act of not wanting to know anything beyond what they already know is a detriment to that person and others around them. Racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and misandry all have to do with the refusal to look past a stereotype that they are convinced is the truth, it is a denial of knowledge that leads to rumors, unreasonable blame, bias, anger, and violence.

The same results happen when encountering nondisclosed ignorance, but as the name implies, it has more to do with information being denied or hidden from a person. This is commonly used by someone who wants to manipulate others.

The motivations behind someone who wants to manipulate other people is complex enough that I might talk about it in the future, but for now, I want to focus on the people who fall victim to this type of ignorance.

When someone is purposefully denuded information, they tend to be dependent on the source that has denied them information. As odd as that might sound, it is not such a leap because this person is unaware that any information is being denied to them and if confronted, they can start to act like a willfully ignorant person, but if this person learns that they have been manipulated, the results can end up in all sorts of different ways.

Ignorance +

Yes, my examples are not focused on any specific hardcore explanation for why ignorance is such a destructive force. I am just highlighting the general idea, allowing you to fill in the details for yourself so that I do not fully spread my ignorance to anyone else.

That being said, the two types of ignorance are common enough that they are typically self-destructive to a certain point. Each person is different and if or when they realize that their behavior or mindset is the thing that is holding them back, thay can change. It all has to do with personal perspective.

I would like to say that not knowing is a singular problem that could be properly dealt with by being around other people; sadly, this is not the case. One of my favorite authors, Terry Goodkind wrote, “People are stupid.” His explanation tempers that sentence, but it is a shining reorientation of what I will say next.

The mob mentality has been expressed as a person doing what others do without knowing why they are doing it. This typically takes hold when it comes to ignorance. After all, if others share the same idea, could it be wrong? Honestly, it does not matter how you look at it or what you think about it, humanity likes to divide itself into groups that have similar thoughts and ideas, and this is where the destruction begins.

In any given group there is a wealth of knowledge, but what they do not know is equal or greater than that knowledge. When people gather it is for an intended purpose and no matter what that purpose is, another group will always oppose it.

A relatively harmless example of this is being a fan of a sports team. I use the word relatedly because there have been and will always be times when fans of a team will get out of hand, they embrace that mob mentality which can lead to bodily harm or destruction during celebration as well as frustration.

Let me take it up a few niches, if you take a brief look at world history, you will find nations as well as other organizations across the world have been consistently doing things that cause destruction. The destruction might have been internally leading to the end of that group or externally leading to the end of another group. Ignorance did them all in; these groups wanted what they wanted, and willfully or in some cases unknowingly destroyed people, places, and things of value.

If you need a direct example, think of how much was lost when part of the Library of Alexandria’s collection, was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar during his civil war in 48 BC. I think it is fair to say that conflict is destructive in one form or another, and when a conflict is recycled or repurposed the destruction grows exponentially.

Almost at the End

 Knowledge and ignorance go hand in hand, it is part of who we are, but we also have the ability to reach beyond our nature. People can create and they destroy. I think that wisdom is the force that is the balance between the two; a state of thought that lets you know that you need to know more about so that things work without falling apart.

This month’s rambling is approaching its end. In this just like any other post I am not demanding anything from anyone, I just would like it if you asked yourself, what would our lives be like if everyone accepted that ignorance was just a space used to learn how to grow, and would that make it possible for people to overcome the destruction we hold within ourselves? Until next time, I am Nolan… Ex Tenebris.