All posts tagged: ignorance

Is Mediocrity More Dangerous Than Ignorance?

Is Mediocrity More Dangerous Than Ignorance?

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a previous post about why educators who promote critical thinking shouldn’t burden themselves with the insurmountable task of getting everyone to think better, I made the point that academics and researchers are not celebrities, regardless of how large their contribution(s) to society. This, of course, is sad when you consider that there are actual celebrities out there who believe the Earth is flat or that rubbing themselves with some gemstone is key to a healthier body. It’s laughable, yes, but at the same time, it’s something of which we should be collectively ashamed. These are the people to whom we’ve provided a platform. Sure, there are a handful of modern academics out there who’ve “made it,” somewhat, in pop culture. For example, I admire the work of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Brian Cox in bringing their expertise and love of science to the mainstream. But, I wonder, how many people outside of academia could actually name a credible academic? Simply, we need more academic role models. Now, I’m not sure if being smart was …

10 Specific Ways To Spot A Fake Intellectual Within Three Minutes Of Meeting Them

10 Specific Ways To Spot A Fake Intellectual Within Three Minutes Of Meeting Them

Published by Jenni Sidey

Most people are experiencing an “illusion of intelligence” when they’re overconfident. They overpromise and underdeliver because they have an inflated idea of their own skills and knowledge, usually in search of praise or attention, but don’t think others will catch on to their pretending. Even though the outcomes of projects they work on are typically evidence enough of incompetence, there are also specific ways to spot a fake intellectual within just three minutes of meeting them. And once you end up talking to them, you’ll wonder why you ever waited to find out. Here are 10 specific ways to spot a fake intellectual within three minutes of meeting them 1. They pick up their phone constantly Lightfield Studios | Shutterstock If someone doesn’t actually know the answer to something but is still trying to pretend they do, their phone is always going to be in their hand. According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, access to the internet and search engines tends to always affect a person’s overconfidence, as if the wealth of …

The important role of ignorance in building a better society

The important role of ignorance in building a better society

Published by Jenni Sidey

Excerpted from Ignorance: What We Do Not Know, Cannot Know, Must Not Know, and Refuse to Know by George G. Szpiro. Published by Columbia University Press. Copyright © 2026. All rights reserved. Imagine that you live in total freedom among a group of people unencumbered by traditions, customs, and any other restrictions. Would that be the pinnacle of joy? Maybe not so much. There would be no government, no police, no fire department, no traffic laws, no court of justice; life would be totally free but totally lawless. As the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) wrote in his magnum opus Leviathan, there would be no culture, no navigation, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no arts, no letters, no society; instead, there would be rapes, thefts, murders, and continual fear of violence. Human life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” As more and more people began to live in close proximity, they realized the need for some sort of arrangement among themselves as an alternative to the chaotic state of nature. …

People Who Have No Clue How Real Life Works Almost Always Use 11 Phrases In Casual Conversations

People Who Have No Clue How Real Life Works Almost Always Use 11 Phrases In Casual Conversations

Published by Jenni Sidey

While wealthy, advantaged people in society today often try to cover up and hide their privilege to protect their image and social perceptions, most actually have little knowledge about the reality of the world for marginalized, low-income, or disadvantaged individuals around them.  While their behaviors might be easy to conceal, people who have no clue how real life works almost always use phrases in casual conversations that give them away. Whether it’s a kind of selfishness that only people who have been spoiled adopt or a passiveness that overlooks empathy toward those who are struggling, these groups of people are clearly ignorant and privileged in a way that narrows their perspective of the world. People who have no clue how real life works almost always use 11 phrases in casual conversations 1. ‘That’s not fair’ fizkes | Shutterstock Many entitled people operate with a misguided view of fairness in their lives, believing that anything that’s not accommodating, convenient, or comfortable for them is immediately “unfair.” However, accepting that the world isn’t fair all the time gives people …

Interminable Ignorance | Robert Pogue Harrison

Interminable Ignorance | Robert Pogue Harrison

Published by Jenni Sidey

“Humankind cannot bear very much reality,” to quote T.S. Eliot, nor can it bear much truth. Just as our sensory organs filter out all but a fraction of what surrounds us, our minds deflect from consciousness a great deal of what we can bear only in small measures. Our ability to ignore, repress, and deny is matched only by our ability to believe the unbelievable and to give chimeric notions the power to found religions, nations, and institutions. The mind’s extravagant imagination—its freedom to wander far beyond the bounds of the real—lies at the root of the “poetic wisdom” that gave rise to the earliest human thinking and social organizations, according to Giambattista Vico, who in his New Science declared, “Ignorance, the mother of wonder, made everything wonderful to men who were ignorant of everything.” For most of its history and prehistory, the human race has lived in various states of ignorance and wonder. Even today most of us will accept the disenchantments of knowledge only with great reluctance. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Beyond Good …

AOC’s Ignorance Is No Laughing Matter

AOC’s Ignorance Is No Laughing Matter

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Stephen Soukup via American Greatness, Over the past week or so, many on the political Right have understandably enjoyed a laugh or two at the expense of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, N.Y.). AOC went to the Munich Security Conference to provide “balance” to the Trump administration’s presence and to burnish her own credentials on the global stage. Instead, she mostly just made a fool of herself. Not only did she stutter, stammer, and offer a Kamala Harris-esque non-answer when asked about American interests in and obligations to Taiwan, but she also demonstrated a comically poor grasp of geography and a righteously ignorant understanding of history. In an effort to rebut and embarrass U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, AOC embarrassed only herself, showing that historical facts mean far less to her than identity-inspired fiction. But while it’s inarguably fun to chuckle at and mock the ignorance of the smug congresswoman and presumed presidential aspirant, it is also important to acknowledge that her historical and political illiteracy extends beyond the superficial and touches on matters of real …

Elon Musk shows total ignorance of Tesla’s current falling sales trajectory

Elon Musk shows total ignorance of Tesla’s current falling sales trajectory

Published by skeptic

Days after Tesla released dismal 2025 sales numbers, CEO Elon Musk took to twitter to not only overestimate the company’s current production numbers, but to wrongly claim that they are “rising” after two years of declines. Tesla’s delivery results, released Friday, showed total 2025 vehicle deliveries of 1.63 million vehicles. That’s a whole lot of cars, and puts Tesla in 2nd place globally for EV deliveries, behind Chinese EV maker BYD. 2nd place is no slouch, but it’s a decline from Tesla’s previous position as the world’s leader in EVs. And that change in places comes not just from delivery growth for BYD, but a decline in Tesla sales, despite global EV market which continues to rise Advertisement – scroll for more content Tesla’s sales decline was even worse than Tesla’s own low expectations. And the decline is even worse in some territories, like Europe. And this year’s decline builds on a previous decline from last year, meaning Tesla’s sales have now declined for two years in a row, for the first time in the …