"A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion" (The Wisest Quotes on Wisdom). Ignorance greatly affects the world today. It hurts the physical environment in the way that it is taken care of, or in most cases not taken care of. It also impacts the way government works and who is elected, because of the voters’ lack of knowledge about the candidates they are voting for. Another way ignorance hurts the world is how it damages relationships by causing people to be pulled apart by their lack of knowledge about each other. It is said that ignorance is bliss, but in reality, it is a detriment to society.
The impact of ignorance on government is one that grows bigger every day as things become more and more complicated and too much for any citizen to fully follow and comprehend. "That government is best which governs least" (Thoreau 1). A relevant example of how people are ignorant of their government’s happenings is the United States. They also don’t have a good sense of who their leaders are or where they stand on certain topics. This is dangerous for many reasons; for example, if the citizens who are electing government leaders haven’t researched and found out enough information about the candidate they decide to
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It affects the way citizens interact with their government, because they are uneducated about those who they are bringing to power. It also changes the way people take care of the world they live in due to their lack of knowledge about their own actions. Also, it leads to mistakes that are made which could have been prevented if they knew what had happened in their past. Overall the main reason people are ignorant is they either don’t have the time to educate themselves, or they don’t care enough to make the time. “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and yields better returns than gold” (NIV
On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).
As seen in the novel Night and Fahrenheit 451 , ignorance can perpetuate the destruction of a society by not listening to the warnings of others and therefore not looking at another viewpoint of an idea. This occurs early in the text, when Moishe reappears in the town and warns his fellow Jews of the Germans. However, they disregard these claims, and would rather focus on the pleasures they have in life: “He told me what had happened to him… they were forced to dig trenches. When they were done their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks...How had he, Moishe the Beadle, been able to escape? By a miracle. He was wounded in the leg and left for dead…but people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen.” (Wiesel 7). As seen in this quote Moishe was giving his fellow Jews a warning about the Germans and they refused to listen to him about it. This ignorance caused them later in the book to become victims of the Holocaust. This subclaim can also be supported by Ray Bradbury’s novel Fah...
A more informed people create a better society.
Pretend that you are class president. One day, you and your best friend since kindergarten have a huge fight, so as revenge, he releases one of your deepest, darkest secrets out into the world. The secret passes on all around and soon the whole school knows. Now it is too late to try and fix this because dark secrets are hard to forget. Ultimately, this causes all your peers to look at you in a different and bad way resulting in your reputation being ruined. You probably won’t be voted for class president ever again. This situation proves that “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” is not always true and can do the exact opposite and cause destruction. William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies shows that ignorance can become a vicious monster and destroy. This can also be seen in many other novels, such as Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 and in everyday life. Golding and Bradbury also provide characters that show knowledge, at times, is a good thing.
No, not at all deceived, just not well informed. America’s government refrains itself from telling the population the entire truth considering major contemporary political issues, which ultimately leads to confusion as to what rumors are true and which aren’t, due to the suspicious actions that America’s speakers take.
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both." -- James Madison ("Focus" 1)
The United States’ populace as a whole is too ignorant of government dealings and too unquestioning of our government, as was the populace of 1984. The entire population is blinded due to media interference such as television and propaganda, just like the telescreens and the “ten minutes hate” in 1984. Additionally, people don’t apprehend why we are at war, or who we are at war with, alike Oceana. Furthermore, the American people are dumbing down the English language to near the newspeak of 1984 without the realization due to the languid nature of man.
How does the amount of information known by someone affect decisions made by that person? Based on a survey by The National Interest, thirty-one percent of Americans could not name the Vice President of America, and that is where they live. The amount of ignorance displayed in America is scary seeing how it could explain why things have happened in the past, and possibly could've prevented them. It is believed that the amount of propaganda used is probably the best explanation for why most Americans are oblivious to the events happening in society; but what does this mean for America? Ignorance is harmful to America since it allows the people to be blinded and deceived by not only the government of the country they live in, but they governments of other countries also; which could ultimately prevent the people from not only being able to react to situations, but to keep them from occurring in the first place also.
Ignorance is bliss as one who is ignorant does not fully understand all the issues occurring around him or her and is therefore somewhat innocent to them. In “Revelation”, by Flannery O’Conner, the main character Mrs. Turpin is ignorant of the fact she is the same as everyone else, but she has different classifications of people of which she is of the higher category. O’Connor uses “Revelation” as a tool to represent people who are both ignorant and not ignorant and what it almost takes for some people to fully overcome ignorance.
To most a fairy tale, to some an interesting topic of discussion, however, to a small population, 5 % to be exact, Government conspiracy does exist. How, you might ask, do I intend to prove that indeed government conspiracy is real? I do not intend to prove it. In fact I only intend to inform you of its ever growing ploy of world domination, capitalism and control and open your mind to the idea that government conspiracy is out there. Throughout history as it is known to repeat itself, I will show facts that support this “theory” and dismiss the legendary lies we have been taught to believe through a system known as memetics.
Not only does ignorance have a negative impact on people, it is also “the root and stem of all evil” (Plato), which can destroy a person. To start off, self-superiority can cloud a person’s judgment; making it evident that intelligence can easily be lost to arrogance. To add on, anger and the human tendency to make rash decisions can also contribute to ignorance, resulting in eventual downfall. Lastly, unconscious attempts to blind yourself from the truth can result in the committing of major sins. Tragedy occurs in “Oedipus the King” when ignorance causes disastrous events, proving that lack of knowledge can result in their misfortune.
The veil of ignorance means to not know how specific deliberations will affect ones over a particular case and being obliged to evaluate evaluate principles solely on the basis of the general considerations. These people characterize things into two groups. Things that they do not know and are ignored, and things that they must know. Things that they often ignore consist of class positions, social statuses, distribution of goods, and natural assets and abilities. Things within the veil of ignorance that usually known are basic features of human social life, understanding political affairs, principles of economic theories, philosophy, and social organizations. The people incharge of taking a stand on the original position then often use these as a guide to make decisions on new laws and other necessities of a
...g it. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
people must be educated to make effective and well-informed decisions. This is one reason why
Throughout the history of the human race the few have held in their hands the lives of the many. Regardless of what type of government or society you observe, it has always been the minority in charge of the majority. It is true that in most cases the majority will reach a breaking point and take down the minority. However, there are those who continue to rule despite public unrest, or those who have the love and admiration of the very people they are abusing. The few have always found a way to climb atop the many, and remain there, defying all logic and reason. These methods fall into a few generalized categories, such as the use of fear, propaganda, drugs, and early childhood conditioning.