Knowledge is everywhere yet ignorance subsists.

 

We live in a so-called modern time where almost the entirety of human knowledge is available on our phone right in our pocket. Yet, we still testify wars, hunger, poverty, terrorism, corruption, injustice, pollution, violence and hate. A xenophobe, transphobic and ignorant president has been elected in the US [1], homosexuals are getting arrested and tortured in Chechenia [2], terrorist attacks have become a habit [3] and a genocide against Rohingya Muslims is ravaging Myanmar. [4]

 

This is the fucking XXIst century. We have such advanced technology, such complex institutions and such rich economies. Somehow, all of us having access to knowledge anytime anywhere does not seem enough to insure tolerance, stability, health, peace and solidarity. Ignorance persists because we do not engage consistently in knowledge.

 

Taking position against ignorance is easy. Everybody agrees we have to fight ignorance because no one feels targeted. We consider ourselves educated therefore immune to ignorance due to one of our strongest trait as a specie: our personal pride.

 

Are we not ignorant though? For the luckiest of us, are twenty years of education enough to protect us from ignorance until the rest of our life? Is ignorance not what makes close-minded people with short-term vision? Is ignorance not what leads us to irrational decisions?

 

Ignorance is like gravity: you can’t escape its pull on you unless you fly. If we want to make this world a better place, we cannot settle for its presence.

 

We must all face it.

We must all fight it.

And eventually, we must all murder it.

 

How do we murder our own ignorance?

 

We must become curious. We must become sceptical. We must become hungry for knowledge, ask questions and look for answers. We should not stand with what people tell us on TV, Facebook, Youtube, the newspapers or among our friends. We should doubt what we hear and what we read, what we fear and what we hope for. We must put our thoughts and our intuition to the test. We must read books and not just fiction ones. We must look for research, seek for proof and check sources. Even for all that has been said in this article, we should not take it for granted. We should question it. Curiosity, research and scepticism are the best weapons we have against ignorance.

 

Thus, the ignocide, the general murder of ignorance, will happen.

 

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Dig and find your own way,

Murder your ignorance today :

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[1] Mindock, C. (2017). Donald Trump Bans Transgender People From Serving in US Military Due To 'Disruption' They Would Cause. Independent, [online] available at : www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-bans-transgender-people-us-military-army-chelsea-manning-lgbt-rights-gay-president-a7861196.html [Accessed 04/10/17]

 

[2] Peter, L (2017) Chechen Police ‘Kidnap and Torture Gay Men’. BBC, [online] available at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39566136 [Accessed 04/10/17]

 

[3] Weller, C. (2017) Startling Maps Show Every Terrorist Attack Worldwide For The Last 20 Years. Business Insider UK, [online] available at : uk.businessinsider.com/global-terrorist-attacks-past-20-years-in-maps-2017-5?r=US&IR=T/#1996-saw-a-spate-of-attacks-in-central-america-and-south-asia-in-december-of-that-year-a-train-bombing-in-india-killed-33-people-1 [Accessed 04/10/17]

 

[4] Wildam, S. (2017) The world’s Fastest-growing Refugee Crisis Is Taking Place in Myanmar. Here’s why. Vox, [online] available at : www.vox.com/world/2017/9/18/16312054/rohingya-muslims-myanmar-refugees-violence [Accessed 04/10/17]