Zoha: Knowers and knowing

'Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' (Martin Luther King)

The quote above by Martin Luther King implies that being ignorant and unaware with stupidity works out to be the most dangerous outlook in the world. Carrying forward an oblivious attitude preventing one to understand the various cultures, people, global issues, religions around the world will only cause, or deepen tribulations. Hence being ignorant with what is around us pays of as being the most dangerous aspect. I would have to agree with this quote, because unawareness often does lead to misunderstandings but also enhances problems. For example if more people were less ignorant about excess waste and Hong Kong landfills filling up, they would perhaps decide to recycle and produce less waste. Not knowing, in this case could be lethal. Another example would be how a common courtesy for one culture is an offense for others. These examples demonstrate how a gap in knowledge can lead to serious consequences. In the same way I do believe that my view of knowledge is rather limited.

We often blindly follow what society and figures in authority show us is right. The episode of west wing revealed how maps showed third world countries smaller than they actually were implying they were less significant. Most of us would go on to believe what a printed map would show us unintentionally surrending to conscientious stupidity. This ultimately would end up dangerous. Sharing everyone’s ‘map of the world’ I came to learn how everyone shared a varied view on their center of the world. Again with the school knowledge activity no two people interpreted their school life knowledge in the same way. This taking me to a conclusion that all of us have a different perception, and referring back to the quote, showing ignorance to other viewpoints will only wind up as dangerous. Without being aware of issues around us, and other believes that surround ones personal opinion will only work out harmful.