Higher order ignorance is tantamount to an awareness
of mystification of larger questions concerning the origin of life and the
universe at large. The words that cloud the mind in a state of higher order
ignorance resonate with the individual as they fill him with thrill. The idea
that you are unlikely to know everything as the human faculties are limited
brings about a sense of mystery in the unknown. Paradoxically, it is this
tendency to relish mystification that leads to higher order curiosity and what ensues
is the desire to find the answers to the larger questions as well. There is as
you can see a difference between ‘finding’ and ‘knowing’. Finding implies ‘tangibility’
or discovery while ‘knowing’ implies state of awareness or ‘intangibility’.
Anything that is concrete is tangible and anything that is abstract is
intangible. You can discover both tangible and intangible aspects of nature.
Observations are discovered and never invented. Through manipulation of the
laws of nature you can invent devices. Reasons are identified and not usually
invented. The phrase ‘inventing reasons’ indicates fallacy. It is ridiculed as
it indicates concoction which is more of a device than logical technique. The
question of whether it is possible to invent reasons is a matter of dispute.
In adults, higher order ignorance slows down all
activities concerning practical matters. What you may call ‘ultimate’ reminds
you of what John Lennon, the singer said which is that life is what happens to
you when you are busy making other plans. When these plans falter an adult
tends to encounter questions of ultimate nature. The human predicament induces
an inescapable feeling of flight into its origin. If this feeling is frequent
it makes truncated approaches impossible to pursue. A truncated approach is an
oversimplified approach where complexity is reduced to what can be dealt with
for the sake of convenience. Practical knowledge and skill depend largely on
truncated approaches. The problem with simplification is that you overlook many
aspects that need to be factored in, to account for the real nature of the
pursuit which you would endeavour to undertake.
Pure ignorance is therefore not the absence of
knowledge but the emptiness of the vessel. Even when knowledge is present it
does not always make a difference in effect. The vessel was not empty in the
first place which is why despite endless hours of education people may never
develop the right frame of mind needed to bring about mutation in outlook.
Descriptive knowledge is reduced to noise and by way of experience it serves no
purpose.
Little knowledge is never dangerous. All it means is
that more knowledge is asked for to exit from the state of ignorance and become
in the profound sense completely aware.
As the author, Isaac Asimov stated without ambiguity that if knowledge
causes problems it is not through ignorance you can solve them. Fear of
knowledge when promoted is breeding ground for spiritual and cognitive deterioration. Very often I have heard people say that they
are better off not thinking, not asking questions and not wanting to find out.
In the worst case scenario they go to the extent of dissuading others from wanting
to know. They use clichéd idioms such as ‘curiosity kills the cat’ and ‘analysis
is paralysis’ to prove their point when in truth, no progress was ever made
without curiosity and paralytic attacks have never been the result of analysis.
Analysis eventually leads to synthesis and harmony. If
it doesn’t the line of thinking was probably wrong in the first place.
An Open door can be shut but never an open mind!
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