Ignorance breeds prejudice

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.
- Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (1809-1882)

A well-educated person, a person with knowledge, is never completely confident of anything. He knows so much that he understands not even the best of contingency plans will cover all possible things that may go wrong.

He also knows what he doesn't know, he is aware of how much more there is to learn about any given subject.

An ignorant person knows so little about the subject that he may proceed with it blithely with great confidence of success or accomplishment of his mission.
A knowledgeable person may become arrogant because he knows so much more than others. An ignorant person may become arrogant because he firmly believes that he knows as much as he needs to know and no further learning is necessary.

Only the ignorant person may become a bigot. Bigotry requires a large measure of ignorance. Prejudice founds itself on the belief that "we know what we need to know".

A bigot becomes confused or angry when presented with more facts. A knowledgeable hungers for more facts.

The world needs more of this kind of hunger.

Bill Allin
'Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems,' striving to create a hunger for knowledge that will leave no room for prejudice. Learn more at http://billallin.com/cgi/index.pl