Originally shared by Robert E. del Sol

Originally shared by Robert E. del Sol

Social Era / Culture: The Rise Of The American Ignorati
#politics #culture #socialera  #ignorati
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.”  -- Benjamin Franklin. Others say, “stupidity is a condition while ignorance is a choice.” If so, in 21st Century America, there is an epidemic of the condition and a mass stampede towards the choice.  There’s even a new name for for it! Ignorati - not to be confused with its Italian literal translation meaning of “ignored”, ignorati is closer to a pop culture antithetic play on on the word “illuminati”.

īgnōrātī -- “a person or group that is willfully ignorant, or woefully uninformed and forces their ignorant views on others regardless of fact, in spite of evidence.” 

In general, the ignorati are described as individuals who, despite their education, power, wealth, or influence, remain anti-intellectual, uninformed and prone to making serious errors of fact when discussing science and other technical, political or social matters. They rather believe in fabled-doctrine than observable reality and resort to magical thinking and scapegoating with alarming ease. Thus, the ignorati can usually be found furiously adding fuel to moral panics and disinformation campaigns of intolerance, prejudice and bigotry in the name of god or country.  For a given individual or group to be considered part of the ignorati, he/she must regularly provide groupthink scripted opinions or report on matters they do not understand and have clearly made no attempt to understand. They are usually fiscally self-serving, unaware of their own privilege, and remain void of empathy for social issues or the plight and misfortunes of others. They believe wanton exploitation of the planet (and everyone or anything on it) yields endless bounty only for themselves and that this predatory activity is a god given right.  In fact, they refuse to acknowledge or take responsibility for causing anyone's problems in the world and when confronted it is their common tactic to reframe observable reality with obfuscation and label open civil discourse as direct personal attacks. While the ignorati can be found deep within every race and religion on the planet, in America they comprise arguably 50% of the population. Politically they are mostly Republicans (in numbers), but plenty of Democrats and Independents qualify for the title as well. These individuals firmly believe that willful-ignorance is their inalienable right and education erodes their freedom to remain so. 

Catch a clue 101, here is more...

Clueless in America:  http://goo.gl/b8hCk 
Implications of Historical Ignorance:  http://goo.gl/Sdwti
Ignorance and Confusion:  http://goo.gl/k4kVT
How Ignorant Are Americans:  http://goo.gl/mXj6q

#politics #culture #socialera  #ignorati
http://www.examiner.com/article/willful-ignorance-the-bane-of-american-society