Not All Sides Are Equal: How To Spot True Ignorance
"Ignorance" is a word that is thrown around so much on the internet that it barely means anything anymore.
However, the word does apply to some things, and when it does apply it's important to spot it so you can make decisions about how to deal with it.
Anonymity
In many ways the prevalence of the anonymity that the Internet offers has eliminated a sense of responsibility or integrity to principal when expressing one's viewpoint.
When we interact with each other face-to-face, there are consequences for our actions: the looming visage of accountability tends to keep people from acting as stupid as they otherwise might act.
Platforms like Steemit mitigate this phenomenon by installing a dollar-valuation system tied to social reputation in a social network, so on Steemit our words DO have repercussions, so we are obliged to act accordingly.
However, what I mean specifically -- and this is the thing that troubles me enough to blog about -- is that there are many people who have built a worldview upon a foundation which is false, and they use the Internet to perpetuate this phantom to the rest of the world.
Example
Have you ever heard anyone say: "Well you can find evidence to support any opinion."
I sure have, and it drives me up the wall -- because it's WRONG.
Sometimes, one side is just right, and the other side just isn't.
1. Parenting on Facebook
The best example I have is that I was arguing with someone on Facebook about peaceful parenting, and I gave him about 5 links to scholarly articles that showed that not spanking children was by far the best approach to parenting, and that spanking actually irreparably harms child development in many crucial ways.
He responded by saying: "Well, there's plenty of evidence that shows the opposite!"
To which I said: "Ok, show me."
He then proceeded to post two articles that talked about how important discipline was, however one article mentioned nothing about spanking children being a positive, and the other article specifically said that hitting children is strongly discouraged by the medical community.
This demonstrated to me that the guy hadn't even read the articles, because they completely refuted his point and supported mine.
When I pointed this out, he vanished from the conversation.
2. Alex Jones on Twitter
Someone on twitter posted a link saying that Alex Jones said that there are child sex trafficking internment camps on Mars.
I thought, woah... that's crazy. So I checked it out.
It turns out that, despite the fact that the article headline stated as much, there was actually noting in it that showed Alex saying anything like that.
The article linked to a video where a caller said that, and Alex responded by saying something like, "Well... there's lots of weird stuff going on that they don't tell us about."
He actually never said anything about believing in pedophile Martians, yet people were all over the place saying he did.
When I pointed this out, the person who posted it blocked me.
How to protect yourself
In order to protect yourself from ignorance, you need two things.
- Humility
- The Trivium
Humility
When we truly understand that in all likelihood, we are probably wrong, it goes a long way to actually finding truth.
An open mind can help you tremendously. And what this entails is to cultivate a passive thought-process of always questioning your own biases.
What this means is that, if you are religious, you must in all authenticity, question that your religion is wrong. And if you are an atheist, you must in all authenticity, consider that God is real.
When done with a humble heart, this intellectual habit can guide you to the truly correct positions, and if you are already in that spot it can help to reinforce your base of knowledge and reasons for holding that position.
The Trivium
The Trivium is the foundational shield of the liberal arts of classical Greco-Roman education.
It comprises of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric -- or, in more technological terms you can think of it as Input, Process, and Output.
When you truly understand the nature of these three disciplines, it becomes extremely difficult to deceive or enslave you.
Do you have any similar experiences?
If so, go ahead and share them in the comments.
I think it's healthy to talk about these things, so lets get a little drum-circle going :D
Great post just give you up vote
this is a great post to go fishing for new steemit users with! haha :) @shayne
very good
This point is fabulous " An open mind can help you tremendously. And what this entails is to cultivate a passive thought-process of always questioning your own biases."
Thank you. It's an important practice.
Great posting! After you'd written about people not willing to see potential consequences for their supposed anonymity I was sold. It is just sad as I've had the conversation with several people which is you wouldn't say most of what you say if you were sitting across from that person.
That's right. Mature people are capable of being authentic online and off.
Here are some old examples:
Lead in gasoline. Lead washes out of the air and out of the body. There is no problem with lead in gasoline. Now, there is lead in solder, that is in an electronic device, that may be thrown in the dump! Eeeeekkk!!!
Cigarettes are healthy. Cigarettes don't cause lung cancer. And, actually that might be true, but the formaldehyde and other curing agents really do a number on people. Now every pack is labelled with horror warning.
Diseases caused by little things that you can't see? Of course there is demons. Its obvious. Everyone knows about the devil...
Every one of these was hotly debated. And the big money people provided all the propaganda they could. And provided false oppositions, and controlled narratives.
We are embarking on paths that will lead to even larger upheavals.
Such as no-till farming. It actually works. Actually, it works really, really, really well. But, try to get a farmer to stop driving his tractor all over his farm as he has always done.
This is the result of infrastructure stratification. It's the reason why disruptive technology is so heavily resisted at first, and also why "criminals" are always the first to use them.
Great perspective here, really enjoying you latest posts!
Just a comment on anonymity. True anonymity means that messages (becaues really that's all the Internet is - communication) are not tied to any identity at all, they are detached. So any service with an account can be at best pseudonymous. That's what I am here 😊
The difference is that while I don't post any personal information whatsoever, by continuing to use this account a gradually build up a reputation from scratch which is only for this platform. I think this is the future - accountability via pseudonymous user accounts.
Steemit is not perfect in supporting this and I'd really like to see, for example, reputation matter more in some way, but it's very contentious, especially now in the self voting / voting circle / sock puppet account climate we're currently experiencing because it would almost certainly have to have a rewards based impact for it to have any effect at all. But some day 😌
Anonymity is more of a personal feeling than a literal reality.