We are all ignorant at some time in our lives. Stupidity is embracing Ignorance as truth.
I saw a posting online to the effect that, "I bought stock in Gamestop because some guy on the Internet said I would make a lot of money! The stock tanked. But the guy said that AMC movie theater stock was a sure thing, so I bought that! That tanked, too. So I bought Bed, Bath, and Beyond stock, because the guy said 'this time for sure!' and they just declared bankruptcy! But the guy said it was all the fault of the Fed or the SEC or something. The whole system is rigged against the little guy!"
This is an excellent example of stupidity and ignorance and how they can combine to form a perfect storm. Investing in stocks is difficult as we are all ignorant. Realizing this and recognizing it is the first step to financial freedom. The reason most of us plebes invest in mutual funds and "blue chip" stocks is that we don't spend 8-10 hours a day researching a specific segment of a market, or even one company. No one has the resources to do this, which is why I say stock-picking is for chumps.
Take it from a Grade-A, Number One, Prime Chump, too!
Where stupidity comes into play is when people celebrate ignorance over knowledge and double-down their bet on ignorance, even as it has bitten them on the ass, time and time again. A lot of pretty smart people were taken in by Donald Trump - not realizing what an utter fraud his whole life has been. He's a Billionaire, right? He owns all those golf courses and hotels, right? He's a successful businessman, right? The reality is, he is a reality-show character who plays a successful billionaire, but actually, in real life, has left a string of bankruptcies and business failures behind him, along with a litany of unpaid attorneys, contractors, and other hangers-on who have been grifted by him.
Most people who were ignorant of this, figured it out, particularly after January 6th, 2021. They were not stupid people, just ignorant of the real background and character of Donald J. Trump. Stupid people, on the other hand, even after seeing what a fraud he is, continue to support him, doubling-down their bet, so to speak, and embracing ignorance as a badge of honor.
Like I said, we are all ignorant at one time or another - and can become ignorant over time, as the world changes. Recognizing this and admitting it is hard to do, as the world has tagged "ignorant" as being a shameful thing, as opposed to being un-knowledgeable. It is only when you embrace ignorance as a virtue that it becomes shameful and crosses the line into stupidity.
In Islam (as I understand it) they do not condemn non-believers as they are merely ignorant of the religion and don't know any better. But someone who was a believer and then became a non-believer? They stone him to death. In this case, ignorance is an excuse, but apostasy is a crime. I'm not saying I agree with that whole scenario, only that it illustrates that ignorance, of itself, is nothing to be ashamed of, but stupidity is - in their culture, anyway.
A friend of mine asked me to install yet another split-system air conditioner. It is always nerve-wracking as they use compression fittings, which are prone to leakage. It worked out well, and this makes the seventh system I have installed - two for him, one at our house here on Jekyll, three in New York, and an early prototype at Carrier, back in 1983 or so. My friend said, "you know about these systems!" and indeed I did, at one time, forty years ago. A lot has changed since then - they've changed refrigerants at least twice now, and a lot of other details in technology have changed as well. I was knowledgeable, but now I am ignorant - and that is a dangerous place to be. Applying outdated knowledge is hazardous, particularly when you convince yourself your ancient knowledge is still valid.
It is a recipe for disaster.
A lot of older people fall into this trap - convinced the skills they learned in their 20's are still valid in their 60's. The old-timer grouses that this fancy newfangled electronic fuel injection is no damn good - "bring back the carburetor!" he says, "I know how to fix those!" But carburetors are not coming back - it is a better idea to learn new skills, but that gets harder with each passing day. What is it they used to say? You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
We need to stop shaming people for being ignorant. Ignorance is just a condition of not-knowing. Stupidity is a condition of preferring not to know. Both are dangerous, but the Ignorant person at least has the possibility of realizing their ignorance and either educating themselves or finding a good book on the subject. The stupid person proceeds without any instruction or data - hilarity ensues.
I got our buggy back together, after the new wheel bearings arrived. The brake kit is coming on a "slow boat from China" and I will revisit that later on. It was an interesting experience and in order to do the job right, you have to know how the axle assembly is put together, and you can't know this without a service manual, which is the first thing I bought when we purchased this now-30-year-old golf cart. Without the service manual, I would have been ignorant and not repaired it properly, and in fact, probably broken it further. Ignorance is not strength.
But the manual illustrated, step-by-step, how to disassemble the axle, remove the axle shaft, and replace the bearing. Yes, I used to work in a ball-bearing factory - that was 45 years ago. And while I remember some important things from back then (like not to Brinnell the bearings), a lot of details have been lost to the mists of time.
Sadly, today, there is a lot of ignorance masquerading as knowledge. We went to the beach today and met some fellow RV'ers - full-timers - and we were talking about RV repairs and online YouTube videos about them. He mentioned his electric RV awning stopped working and it was a common problem - a YouTube video showed exactly where the main power wire tends to work loose and "unplug" over time. A simple fix! But several other videos had stupid suggestions for esoteric failure modes and were unhelpful. You have to see several videos before you realize who is right and who is wrong.
It is like when I repaired the sunroof on the King Ranch. Some videos suggested using power tools on the tiny delicate screws that hold it together. One of the videos ended with the guy saying "Whoops!" as he basically broke it worse than before. Needless to say, I didn't follow his suggestions.
But others are less astute, and a whole lot of "bad data" is out there, that disguises itself as good data. Holistic healing methods and "essential oils" and other nonsense routinely makes the rounds on Facebook in particular. People absorb this sort of stuff without any skepticism. The whole anti-vaxxeer movement, for example, which predated the pandemic, is based on Facebook "memes."
Again, we see the bifurcation between ignorance and stupidity. People who embrace these "alternate" realities (e.g., Earth is flat, moon landing was faked) want to appear to be in the know - having the secret knowledge that the mainstream is ignorant of. But they don't want to go to school or take hard science courses, of course! So instead they dive into conspiracy theories, which unlike a real education, is about as hard as falling off a log.
They embrace ignorance. They celebrate ignorance. Those stupid doo-doo head scientists! What do they know! We have the inside information! We have the real knowledge. Once again, stupidity raises its ugly head. People with real knowledge are always worried their knowledge may be outdated, obsolete, or even wrong - that is the nature of science, among other things. Stupid people, on the other hand, are convinced they are right about everything and no amount of factual data will dissuade them.
What ends up happening of course, is tragedy. As their faux version of reality clashes with actual reality, they rely on "alternative facts" (remember that?) and live in a fantasy world far removed from reality. And as I noted before about rubber-band theory, the further you pull back on that rubber band, the harder it snaps back. Eventually, something has to give. People realize that Nazism was a false God, but only after Berlin has been leveled to rubble and millions upon millions of people killed. But even then, even today, there are some who still believe and celebrate Hitler's birthday, in Germany.
You can't fix stupid.
Almost every major social upheaval in history has occurred when this rubber-band snaps back. We saw this in our own country and it goes on even today. "Hey, slavery isn't so bad, right?" - that sort of thinking ended up creating the deadliest war we ever fought in. But other countries fell victim to other fantasies as well. "Hey Communism might actually work, right?" Decades of abuse and murder and starvation later, we realize that no, Communism isn't an answer to anything.
Sadly, today, it seems we are poised for another rubber-band snapping back. Some young people today are convinced it will be a snap-back we will not recover from, a "technological singularity" that will destroy mankind. Either "artificial intelligence" will take over and destroy the world, or we will simply drown in our own pollution and crapulence. I think they have been watching too many "Terminator" movies while stoned, frankly. Again, we see the disconnect from reality.
I think the snap-back will be less dramatic than that. But it seems to me that a whole lot of people of all stripes and walks of life, are wanting to live in a fantasy world. On the Left, we have people agitating for "trans rights" and by that, not just the right to be left the hell alone, but to force people to accept you. Others argue for "guaranteed annual income" even as budgets are busted and deficit spending is the norm. Speaking of deficits, no one in either party even talks about paying off the national debt anymore. We're just going to ride that all the way down.
On the right, the level of delusion is even greater - all our problems are caused by "woke-ism" and illegal immigrants (although that drumbeat has been quieted somewhat when they realized they were losing the Hispanic vote). The far-right still argues the election was "stolen" and that Donald Trump is a smart guy and was a great President. Ignorance is one thing, this is stupidity. Since they can't admit they were wrong, they have to double-down their bet and embrace ignorance and live in a fantasy world removed from reality. Who rang the doorbell? Better shoot them! Might be blacks or something!
The snap-back could be brutal, particularly since so many people seem inclined to violence these days - worldwide. This is not a mere US-only thing, politics all across the globe are turning dark, and the idea of compromise and cooperation has long ago died. Today, it is my way or the highway - our side wins or nobody wins.
And you don't have to be a genius to understand how that will play out!
