Unclear Ignorance

Dear Children:

Have you noticed that TV news segments often involve reporters interviewing each other? Laying aside the suspicion that this practice is neither news nor reporting, we are left with nothing. “Tell me, Lancome, what does this triple homicide say about the quality of law enforcement in the city?” “That’s a very good question, Chanel. The answer is unclear.” Nothing gives way to more nothing.

Wait. Did he just say that the answer was unclear? Is that the same as saying he doesn’t know? Yes, it does mean he does not know the answer. Nor do we expect him to know the answer. The whole exchange is unintelligible.

But that’s not why I called this meeting. This meeting is about copping to ignorance. Maybe we can start a new fashion of admitting ignorance. One knows that ignorance has taken on a pejorative sense recently. It’s still a perfectly good English word. If you'd rather not use it among your friends, we can use it here for safe-keeping. It was no less a thinker than St Jerome who said: "It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance." More recently, Will Durant wrote: "Education is the progressive discovery one's ignorance."

Let’s start by appropriating from others less and attributing more. We don’t really know the answer to a question if we read it in this morning’s paper. We know for sure we read it in The Bugle. That’s about it. There is nothing wrong and certainly no dishonor to report that you don’t know but you read something in The Bugle.

This has become an important topic because the internet makes it possible to get a wide range of opinions on any subject quickly, easily and anonymously. We want to take care that we distinguish what we say for ourselves and what we pass on for others.

It’s hard, I know. Who can say with a straight face that something you just vouchsafed as fact was actually from squirrelnuts3411? Or, who would want to admit that some public policy opinion was recently cribbed from the blog bidenhater.com? Silly as it sounds, it must be done.

I’m just sayin’.

Much Love,

Poppy