It is not always that I go seeking my friends for advice. There are times they come seeking me as well though, yes, it is very seldom for advice. More often than not, it is primarily to sound off their own theories of life in the perfect confidence that the audience is incapable of punching holes in their pet theories.
"You know that saying 'When a man knows and knows that he knows, he is wise, follow him; when a man knows and knows not that he knows, he is asleep, wake him; when a man knows not and knows that he knows not, he is ignorant, teach him; when a man knows not and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool, avoid him'?"
I nodded warily, not sure where this was heading. Invariably, things like this ended up in my getting insulted. Like, this one, was there some way I had proved that I knew not that I knew not? No, it could not be, for in that case he should have avoided me, not sought me out like he did now.
"You know, when you are totally ignorant of your own ignorance is when you are the most confident about your own opinions."
"If I am ignorant, how will I..."
"Come on, you idiot. Has anyone seen God? Has anyone searched every nook and corner of the Universe and found He is nowhere? Yet, the one thing everyone confidently asserts as absolutely true is their own belief in whether or not he exists. Ignorance does not stop you from having opinions and ignorance breeds confidence. When you know, you also know reasons to doubt your own opinions, so you tend to be more tentative about what you say."
It sounded okay to me and, anyway, I did not want to set him off on what he really thought were the contents of my skull, so I nodded.
"And those who know that they do not know...who are they more likely to believe? The one who is confident about what he is saying or the one who is tentative?"
Now, these are the questions that I am afraid of. I mean, the chap is out to prove a point, that much was obvious, and he expects a certain answer so that he can establish his point. Give him the wrong one and he is likely to bust your nose for you.
"Hmm! I suppose...err...the confident guy will be believed."
He beamed and I sighed with relief. Right answer!
"And, between the ignorant who know their ignorance and the ignorant who do not, you have the majority of Society."
Thank God, this was an assertion. If it had been a question...well, I had never gone around collecting statistics of who was who.
"So, you have the blind leading the blind in a society that is ruled by the majority - this democracy of ours. No wonder the world is hurtling down a precipice."
Yeah, I know you are berating me for a coward for not smashing his face in for indicting a holy cow like democracy. But, come on, even the literal holy cow is not safe these days, so big deal about the figurative ones! Which is about what a lot of people seem to be feeling these days.
"So, your point is that democracy is bad?"
"You really do have an unerring ability to misunderstand things. I meant that an ignorant majority is the danger in a democracy."