Opus 2015-475: Ignorance or Irrelevance?

I am constantly shocked at the ignorance of people.  I guess they are shocked by mine.

When I graduated I had read a couple of Shakespeare plays but nothing by Maya Anjelou.  One reason is that she was not writing then.  Another is that no one would have bothered with what she wrote.

I had read Ivanhoe but not The Hunger Games. 

I had read Lord of the Flies but not Harry Potter.

It isn’t just a matter of timing.  It is also a matter of cultural value.  I have no quarrel with Hunger Games or Harry Potter.  They could be passing fads.  Will they endure?  At this point of time there is no way of knowing.  The reason I doubt it is that they appeal to children who don’t like to read.

It is cultural ignorance that disturbs me.  Recently I ran into a substitute and had a chance to talk a bit with her.  She was an ex L.A. Times writer.  She was working as a substitute to pay the bills while she pursued here dream of making film documentaries.  All that was interesting.  What surprised me was when I referred to sticking your finger in the dike and she gave me a puzzled look.  Evidently she had never heard the story about the little Dutch boy putting his finger in the dike.  I had never before run into anyone before who had not heard the story.  It is not a big deal and my background is not her background but it is like meeting someone who thinks Europe is a country or skin color.

Then I read the blog of a High school student who complains about being forced to learn new words.

We are creating a culture in which comfortable ignorance is the norm.  It is the desired goal.  If you can keep people happy with their phone apps and social media then they will not make trouble in the future.  They won’t realize there is any need to make trouble.  When the government official says we are to ignore the man behind the curtain, we ignore the man behind the curtain.

Welcome to the Nanny State.

homo unius libri