Is "Smart Ignoramus" an Oxymoron?

Column for week of April 28, 2014

     Words are commonly misused and misunderstood.  A few
years ago a television show asked the question "Are you smarter
than a fifth grader?"  Perhaps the person who asked the question
was ignorant as pond scum.  Or, perhaps he intended to deceive.

     With the possible exception of fifth grade teachers, fifth
graders know more about what is taught in fifth grade than
anyone else.  Also, they know more about fifth grade subjects
than they will ever again know.

     This doesn't mean that as fifth graders age they grow
dumber.  Everyone soon forgets most of what they learn in
school.  Mainly we remember only the things we continue to use. 
Forcing students to dwell on facts and processes until they
learn them is of little lasting benefit.  If they have no interest in
the subject matter and don't use it, they will soon forget most of
it.

     The mere fact people forget doesn't mean they are dumb.  
Asking whether you are smarter than a fifth grader confuses
knowledge with intelligence.  If knowledge is intelligence,
computers are the smartest things on earth.  In reality computers
are dumber than pond scum.  People do all of the thinking for
the computer.  Computers reflect the intelligence, or lack of
intelligence, of the programmers.

     Intelligence is the ability to reason, analyze knowledge,
and solve problems.  Being able to memorize solutions and
parrot them back isn't intelligence, though it may fool some
people.

     Ignorance is the absence of knowledge.  It is curable. 
The ability to think and reason can be developed as can athletic
skills.  In both cases lack of inherent skills puts severe limits on
development.

     We are all mostly ignorant.  No one knows more than a
small fraction of all of the world's knowledge.  This isn't a
serious problem.  The problem arises when individuals are
ignorant about the things they believe they know and claim to
understand.  Such ignorance doesn't mean they are dumb. 
"Smart ignoramus' isn't an oxymoron.  It isn't even an
uncommon condition.

     Smart ignoramuses are dangerous.  A brilliant mind
starting from false premises can reason its way to devastatingly
bad conclusions.

     Why do smart people remain ignorant regarding matters
about which they claim to be experts?  There are number of
possibilities.  Carelessness and arrogance lead the list.

     Some people are so confident of their ideas and
conclusions that they resent anyone even suggesting that they
should reexamine their basic premises.  Sigmund Freud is a
classic example of this.  He turned on associates and friends who
dared to question his basic beliefs.

     An arrogant ignoramus who refuses to learn when he is
wrong faces a harsh reckoning with reality, if he ever bumps up
against reality.  Such people do their best to insulate themselves
from reality.

     Individuals in the private sector find it hard to avoid
reality.  When they arrogantly insist on repeating their mistakes,
bankruptcy has a way of ending those mistakes.  The arrogant
ignorant have better lives in universities and government.  They
may prosper while inflicting their ignorance on others.

     Most of the problems we face today in matters such as
the economy, climate change, education, etc. are the product of
voters being dazzled by brilliant ignoramuses who build houses
of cards on false premises they refuse to reexamine.  Many of
these people never examined the premises they blindly follow. 
They accept false premises learned from others.

     Anyone who refuses to examine and defend his basic
premises is a candidate for the "Ignorant Ignoramus" list.  Such
people can be right.  Usually they aren't.

     Don't be blinded by brilliance.  Investigate the premises
underlying the conclusions of the brilliant ones.  Don't follow
them to destruction.

aldmccallum@gmail.com
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Copyright 2014
Albert D. McCallum