Ignorance Is An Enemy of Sustainability

Of all the “word of the day” apps available, my favorite is Wordsmith.org, edited by the brilliant Anu Garg.  One of my favorite features is the “thought for the day,” and here’s today’s:  I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it. -Edith Sitwell, poet (7 Sep 1887-1964)

Powerful stuff in today’s America, a country featuring millions of people who believe climate change is a hoax, the pandemic is planned, whites are the master race, the Earth is flat, liberals are communists, and Bill Gates is implementing his plan to enslave humanity. 

I once tutored a kid in math whose father was uneducated.  At one point the boy told me, as if to explain why he was having trouble on a certain point, “Craig, you know I come from a family of rednecks, don’t you?”

I replied, “No you don’t.  A redneck is an ignorant person who is proud of his ignorance.  If that were the case with you, you wouldn’t be sitting here with me learning math.  You’re actually doing quite well with all this, and an education is something no one can take away from you, regardless of what happens to you throughout your life.”

I’ll admit that education isn’t held in the esteem that it was a few decades ago.  That’s a shame, because ignorance is a very poor platform on which to build a sustainable society.