What's So Extraordinary About Ignorance!

When there is ordinary ignorance, expect excitement. You get to see the curtains opening out as conceptual play gradually unfolds. The eyes that gaze into the stage observe the acts till the message becomes clear. Or does it? Do you see at all or do you observe? What can you make of the identity of the axioms which for some reason unknown to you exist a priori? It is quite hard to say how objects –intangible and tangible existing before hand is received by a child who sees them for the first time. While it seems tempting to say it is curiosity, you may be overlooking the reaction of indifference.  You tend to think of a child as curious but remember; his curiosity can be selective. Another description of a child that closely resembles ordinary ignorance is innocence. There is a technical difference and not merely a sublimated one. Innocence signals naivety while ignorance is the state of inadequate or complete lack of knowledge having nothing directly to do with naivety.

The curiosity, selective or otherwise that you may observe in a child is a trait also of innocence/naivety accompanied by a readiness to believe. This trait may not present itself to the same degree in most adults. While all adults experience ordinary ignorance they do not experience the same nature of curiosity that a child experiences because of the absent trait of naivety- the locus of an empty mind. As innocence is present the notion of falsehood is not easily understood which is why there is a readiness to believe and as the mind is empty there is a determination to absorb. The child does not even encounter the need to believe as he experiences what can be touched, seen and heard receiving their impact into memory. The notion of what is not is never clear to a child. This trait adds to the ordinary ignorance of a child a flavour not quite present in an adult learner. The idea of falsehood is never quite clear. You can then say that concepts being in the realm of thought do not provoke the same excitement necessarily in a child as would ‘objects’ that can be touched and seen. The reason being concepts are derivatives of axioms.

The idea of the number ‘2’ is the realization/perception of its value. How do you transfer this perception to a child? If you look carefully you will see that the value of 2 that you may consider to have realized is partially taken for granted. You may reflect and recollect how this value gets juxtaposed in the number 2. You are invariably directed back to the number ‘1’. As 2 is the additional value of 1+1, you come to think of it as having 1 apple in your left hand and 1 in your right hand resulting in 2 apples. Note that you are not familiar with the number 2 till you realize its value after counting 1 and 1. The number 2 represents of the value ‘2’. In the case of letters it gets more complicated as each letter in the English language for instance has no seemingly logical connection with any other letter. In effect, you find yourself having to gain familiarity with many axioms. It takes a while before you begin to derive free flowing communication if you proceed in a linear manner. The difference is that you cannot logically realize the value of the alphabets of the English language because you cannot work them out.  The lack of realization or conceptualization, is the most crucial element that has to be identified in the learner’s state of ordinary ignorance.