Ignorant or Stupid… the Difference

In the last post, I called some of my past students ignorant.  They weren’t… they were stupid.

IMO, the difference is very important.

Ignorance is not knowing something because of never having been exposed to it.  The American Indians were ignorant of large sea-going vessels.  They had never seen them before.  It’s perfectly OK to be ignorant.  I am totally ignorant about rugby… I have no idea what’s going on with it.  I’m mostly OK with that.

Stupidity is not knowing something by choice.  I have many students that have been taught evolutionary theory, but they have stated that ‘no matter what evidence is presented, I will not believe you.’  That’s stupid.

~ by ogremkv on December 23, 2007.