A lot of our fellow earthlings may as well be from another planet. Perhaps Uranus.
They think differently, they reason differently…
…No critical thinking here. That is: “the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices.”
I don’t think these space cadets are formulating their far-fetched propositions by thinking things out thoughtfully and methodically. For starters, informed conclusions are based on facts – not ‘alternative facts.’
Willful ignorance is a choice… but one does not have a choice in what is factual and what is not. Case in point:
My brother and I wandered into our local convenience store and were greeted by our friend Andy the cashier, and a new employee. “Oh boy,” said Andy, “look who’s here! It’s the Irish Mafia.” I informed him that “we were not Irish, that we were Scottish. Of course, some of our ancestors ended up in Northern Ireland where they were called Scotch-Irish.”
The new guy chimed in: “Hey, Ireland is Ireland . . . they’re all Irish.” I replied: “Not so, my friend. The ‘Ulster Scots’ are Protestant and Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, where as the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign nation, is mostly Catholic.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said while scratching his head. “That’s why all the killing happened… Protestants against all them Catholics.”
“It’s pretty complicated.” I said, realizing the dumb had just gotten dumber. I thought to myself: Religion had a big part in the conflict, but politically, the IRA (the Irish Republican Army) represented the Catholic Nationalists. The UVF (the Ulster Volunteer Force) represented the Protestant Unionists. Irish Republicans against British Loyalists.
“One thing for certain,” he stated as a matter-of-fact, “Catholics aren’t Christians.”
I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Religious bigotry had reared its ugly head. How can anyone say something so preposterous, so downright stupid? I questioned his ludicrous statement, but then he continued on. He said that the Baptists had been around long before the Catholics! What? Was he thinking of John the Baptist? More likely John the Southern Baptist. Wait a minute. Now it makes sense… in a twisted way.
Mark Twain told us never to argue with idiots, they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
I’d had enough. The conversation was over.
You can’t help but wonder how many of these ignorant nimrods are out there spewing their convoluted opinions. (There are not enough straight-jackets to go around!) And where are they getting their information? Certainly not from reliable sources.
They say that ignorance is bliss. If so, there are a lot of blissful people on the planet. Maybe Elon Musk can do us all a big favor by sending these idiots to Mars…
Remember: “Ignorance can be educated and crazy can be medicated, but there’s no cure for stupid.”
DC has been a frustrated musician for over fifty years, and now has decided to become a frustrated writer. Learn more at DCDuncan.com. He’ll keep you posted.