Be informed!

Ignorance it is not innocence but sin

Francois Rabelais said that ”Ignorance is the mother of all evils ”. Yes, it’s true that the lack of knowledge may be considered as the main reason for mistakes and sins but are this mistakes or sins so evil if they are not done with intention? Is ignorance really a sin?

Ignorance is sometimes misinterpreted as a synonym of stupidity, and is often taken as an insult. But ignorance is not always to blame on the ignorant. Only in a smal number of cases do people choose to be ignorant. Not to mention the fact that people actually try , in most cases, to be as informed as posible. We are all ignorant of something so it’s not right to believe that ignorance equals evil. It’s true that in many cases ignorance is seen as a pleasant alternative to harsh reality. But not even them can be blamed for more than evoiding reality and maybe for some people it is the easiest way to live.

On the other hand, we have acces to more and more information. It has never been so easy to find out things as it is today. So not having acces to information is no longer an excuse for beeing ignorant. It is a lack of respect to others and to yourself not to try to evolve and to complete your knowledge of the world that sourounds you and of the society you live in. Further more knowledge is power. By refuzing to be informed you are taking the risk to be manipulated by other people. George Orwell gives us a perfect example of how harmful ignorance can be. "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength." is the slogan of The Party in his novel ”1984”. Orvell sees ignorance as a desease in society and he considers it a form of terrorism.

So, how harmful can ignorance be? We can not say that ignorance is really a sin. But it can not be considered a form of innocence. Ignorance can sometimes be dangerous but, as thomas Gray once said, ignorance can be bliss.