Ignorance Of Ignorance

Ignorance, the seeming bane of society, a concept that eluded even the most intelligent man seen in modern times, Albert Einstein. To put it in his words, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” While on the topic of ignorance, it is important to note that in our modern world, one can be called ignorant for just about anything. More often than not, politicians simply hurl this word relentlessly into each other’s faces, as a type of sophisticated insult, or a politically correct stupid. How many times has the argument, “You’re just too ignorant to understand my cause” been used to best over an opponent, and win over the crowds? Far too many, to put it lightly. Regardless of its mainstream uses today, ignorance is not the …show more content…
If a nation stands ignorant to a threat, no problems that normally accompany a threat ensue. Zoom out of reality for a moment, and picture a meteor hurtling toward earth faster than a supersonic jet, with a net force of more than ten million nuclear bombs. Zoom back in, at the same time, a businessman sits at his desk pouring over the latest stock exchange info as he loudly exclaims, “Alas, my life is over, these stocks have ruined me!” This poor man never suspected, or acknowledged, the fact his life really was over. Just after his life was figuratively “over” due to his stocks, his life was literally, and absolutely over, due to the meteor. Ignorance keeps the masses controlled, it prevents them from falling into a state of panic. This is, of course, an entirely fictional example; however, it’s surprising how closely this example relates to our …show more content…
In the eyes of every American gleamed confidence, they saw the shuttle hurtling through the air, and they saw the likes of men take their first steps into the unknown. Man was not swayed, for they feared nothing, and no challenge was too great. Yet, how can we fear the unknown? Almost no one in the general public knew of the huge possibility for mission failure. The public was not aware that, “All involved knew that the risks of an accident on any flight to the moon, especially the first attempt, were high,” as stated by John Logsdon, former director of the space policy institute. What the public saw was confidence, achievement, and progression. The risk was not ignored by Americans, the risk was unknown. The public’s ignorance was no coincidence either. The US government knew that this day was essential to the space race, they could not have the American people second guessing the greatest work of their country’s lifetime. In fact, President Nixon had a speech pre-prepared in case the men on the moon were destined to stay there, forever. One line of the speech reads, “In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.” An eery feeling accompanies any reader as they read this speech, a speech that speaks of deaths our heroes would have