Fools dwelling in ignorance,
yet imagining themselves wise and learned,
go round and round in crooked ways,
like the blind led by the blind.
—Katha Upanishad - Part 2, Verse 5
I stumbled upon this quote yesterday: “Who are you to be such a committed advocate of a faith that’s so complex that there’s no way that someone like you could understand it?”
The question doesn’t just apply to religion, but any topic, really. I see it in my personal life, professional settings, and in public. People are willing to take a stance on a topic, whether they have a wealth of supporting evidence to back it up or not. That fascinates me.
Belief systems, for many people, seem to be built on a shaky foundation of buzzwords, phrases, platitudes, or things they heard from someone else. The best part is they don’t even bother to further reinforce this foundation by looking into their stance any further. But challenge them with a few probing questions, and they’d rather dig their heels into the dirt of ignorance and double down on enthusiasm for their “team” than search for the truth.
As for me, my approach to an argument (or stimulating conversation with differing views, as I like to call it) is this: “I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just asking you to show me why you’re right.” I’m more interested in finding out why you’re holding onto your beliefs than proving one of us “right” or “wrong.” Most people aren’t even willing to play the game, though. It’s deflect or shut down or point behind you and say, “Look over there!”
Why are people so afraid to claim ignorance about a topic they’re unknowledgeable about? It never made any sense to me, as I have no trouble taking at least a partially neutral stance on a topic which I know little about. But maybe I’d rather just stand my ground in a field of ignorance than wander round and round like the blind leading the blind.