We have a problem
There is a problem in our society. It is not that people are dumb or don't know things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having an absence of knowledge in any area, but there is a problem when you don't know that you have an absence of knowledge or vehemently hold onto a position that is not supported by our collective knowledge. When you vote or act based on faulty knowledge you are potentially doing harm to yourself and to others. There are two sides to this: 1. Why is it a problem and 2. How do we fix it?
1. This is a problem because it impacts all of us. A persons beliefs or political position leads to them voting for people that generally align with their views and therefore implement policies that are based on those beliefs. Or that person does something that is harmful within its own right, regardless of voting for a politician. Whether or not anyone reading this agrees with this position or not, please read the whole story. Lets say someone doesn't accept that vaccines are safe and therefore doesn't have their child (Child 1) vaccinated. Child 1 then contracts a disease like mumps, and passes it onto child 2. Child 2 dies. Is it then okay for the parent of child 1 to not vaccinate their child? Is it okay for us to have politicians that implement policies that allows child 1 to not be vaccinated? I would argue that neither of those are acceptable. When you are potentially harming someone else, you forfeit your rights to make that decision.
2. To fix this we need to educate the populace. We need to educate our children, and not just on what science tells us, but when to realize when you have an absence of knowledge and accept it. Why isn't our default position "I don't know"? In the absence of knowledge we should hold the position of "I don't know". When you recognize that you have an absence of knowledge there are two paths, either educate yourself using reputable sources or accept what the experts tell you because you don't know. Then we need a populace that can tell what is a good source of information, and what is not. A populace needs to know how to think, and as of right now...it doesn't.
1. This is a problem because it impacts all of us. A persons beliefs or political position leads to them voting for people that generally align with their views and therefore implement policies that are based on those beliefs. Or that person does something that is harmful within its own right, regardless of voting for a politician. Whether or not anyone reading this agrees with this position or not, please read the whole story. Lets say someone doesn't accept that vaccines are safe and therefore doesn't have their child (Child 1) vaccinated. Child 1 then contracts a disease like mumps, and passes it onto child 2. Child 2 dies. Is it then okay for the parent of child 1 to not vaccinate their child? Is it okay for us to have politicians that implement policies that allows child 1 to not be vaccinated? I would argue that neither of those are acceptable. When you are potentially harming someone else, you forfeit your rights to make that decision.
2. To fix this we need to educate the populace. We need to educate our children, and not just on what science tells us, but when to realize when you have an absence of knowledge and accept it. Why isn't our default position "I don't know"? In the absence of knowledge we should hold the position of "I don't know". When you recognize that you have an absence of knowledge there are two paths, either educate yourself using reputable sources or accept what the experts tell you because you don't know. Then we need a populace that can tell what is a good source of information, and what is not. A populace needs to know how to think, and as of right now...it doesn't.
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