Those Who Pretend to Know

Those who know they do not know gain wisdom;
Those who pretend to know remain ignorant.
-- Tao Te Ching

I came across graffitti on the bathroom wall of Sobey's the other day, slamming the store over pesticides and suggesting that everyone should be buying organic.  I guess they're not familiar with Newfoundland soil and climate, or certainly not with how agriculture works here. 

The CBC website lately has been littered with people insisting crime in St John's is on the rise, despite statistics being released to the contrary.  Yes, those statistics are questionable, but for reasons much better than "geez b'y, I've been readin' the news, and everyone knows crime is up sher since I was a youngster".  I guess it never occurs to them that they weren't reading the online news daily 30 years ago.

It all reminds me of years ago when someone adamantly suggested that killing more seals would help save the cod, since seals eat cod.  Then an expert came forward saying that seals primarily eat another fish which in turn eats cod and it would have quite the opposite effect.  (Not that seals were the problem to begin with, but let's leave the overfishing and government mismanagement rants for another day.)  But then, maybe I'm remembering that wrong.  I might be.  But then, I'm not espousing a course of action regarding seals.  Just so we're clear.

You see, I'm not suggesting for a minute that I know all about potato blight, or whether crime is or isn't rising or falling in St John's these days, or what the fuck we should do about a dead fishery.  I'll leave destroying elephant populations in order to save them from cruel treatment to the likes of PETA.  I don't know these things, and I know I don't know these things.  I just wish the general population asked more questions and provided fewer answers.

Wouldn't it be nice, every now and then, to find activism and ignorance not following hand in hand?

Welcome to the Misinformation Age.