There Is No Excuse for Ignorance

One of the most treasured objects from my childhood and adolescence that I still keep as a memento was a “Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado” dictionary, which is not small at all because it is actually quite a large book. Something as simple as a gift from my parents had a great influence on the person I am today, surely without them suspecting it. I discovered that, unlike other books, it was a powerful tool that very simply gave me knowledge most people did not have. At that time, every, every, every time I encountered an unfamiliar word, I looked it up in the dictionary. I was fascinated by how quickly I could move from being ignorant about a subject to knowing enough to feel comfortable using a certain word, talking about a particular country or city, or recounting anecdotes about historical figures. That dictionary was the sort that also serves as an encyclopedia, with maps, charts, and special sections for people and geographical places. Using that collection of paper and ink put me in a privileged position on many occasions because of the knowledge I gained. And even if it sounds as though I was a super nerd in secondary school, when my classmates did not know a word, guess whom they asked. And, of course, by then I had not only my dictionary but also a dark and esoteric tool that almost nobody used in the early and mid-1990s: the internet.

I believe that we are a combination of our genetics, our temperament, and the environment around us, our character; in this case, besides having the tools, there is another factor that makes me who I am: curiosity. I am a curious person; I was born that way. I constantly ask myself questions whose answers I want to seek out. I am interested in many subjects, which has led me to read books, articles, and essays from the broadest range of human understanding. When I entered university, in those distant turn-of-the-millennium days when printed paper books were still used, I would stroll through the library looking for books to read, and my criterion for choosing them was simple: I wandered through the aisles, every section and every subject, and whenever a book caught my attention, I borrowed it to read, week after week. At that time I read many novels, books on mathematics, theoretical physics, history, geography, essays on art, design, and so on. Those who know me in person know that I am quite a talker, and if they have shared a drink in my living room in the early hours before dawn, they know that any subject can come up. With most people I am introduced to, I can have a conversation because it is very likely that I know something about their profession or background.

Having put things in context, you can imagine that the internet and such wonderful tools as Wikipedia are now my means of constantly searching and consulting on every kind of subject. I can say without hesitation that I have learned more things on the internet than any school could have taught me. Anything that crosses my mind, I try to look up and research. If I hear something on television that interests me, I take the iPad resting on the bedside table next to our bed and voilà! I have learned something new. It can be current or historical subjects, serious matters or entertainment—anything. To give you an idea, these are the last two things I looked up: why do raindrops have different sizes? Why does metal make noise when water boils? As it turns out, both questions had a scientific answer I would never have imagined.

An important point to emphasize is that every internet search I make is in English. Most of the internet is in English, so the possibility of finding answers is immensely greater. Even if many people do not want to accept it, English is the lingua franca of the internet and, in general, of all science and technology.

You do not even need a computer to access the largest knowledge base we have created, the internet. At the very least, you only need a mobile phone, and at any moment, anywhere, we can find answers to our questions.

With so many powerful tools within our reach, I do not understand why there are still so many ignorant people. I am not referring to people who perhaps, because of limited resources, did not receive an education and have no access to the internet or do not even know how to use a computer; they have a reason. I am referring to those middle- and upper-class people who did receive an education, who do have access to all these tools, but do not use them. It is incredible how many people still depend on someone else to give them answers, still trusting others’ intellectual ability more than their own. They were surely the ones who copied during school exams because they trusted someone else’s answers more. Why do so many people keep asking questions that they could solve with a quick Google search? Why, when they do not know a word in a text, do they prefer to remain in doubt rather than spend a minute or less looking it up and understanding its meaning? Why do so many people ignore basic, everyday facts and general knowledge?

We live in a time when there is no excuse for ignorance… today’s ignorant people are not merely ignorant; they are lazy.