Zander's Inside Voice

I read a great blog post a few days ago about aggressive ignorance. It summed up a few different scenarios of people who refused to learn new things like technology or how to interact with people in a civilized manner. It’s been stuck in my mind since I read it a few days ago.

Why do people refuse to learn new things? Why are new things such a threat? I love learning all the things about everything. I can’t imagine choosing to not learn new things.

I guess that extends to people too. I like learning about how people and what makes them tick. Even people I don’t agree with are fascinating. It’s so interesting to figure out why people do what they do and what influences them in general. And why they get stuck in something just because that’s the way they’ve always done it. Of course there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel if something is working for you.

But of course, if something ISN’T working for you, clinging hopelessly to it isn’t going to help you improve your life. I know many people who are struggling because they refuse to try something new. I know someone who thinks it’s great fun to be an asshole. They have very few friends and people avoid them constantly. They’re lonely and wonder why no one stays as a friend. Hmmmm…why could that be, asshole?

I can’t understand not wanting to do better and be better and not be ignorant. I think I might love all people and I want us to all get through bad stuff together. I don’t think there’s a limited amount of joy and happiness out there. I think there’s enough for everyone to be happy, whatever they love. It would do everyone some good to stop judging things you don’t understand and start trying new things and just accepting that we aren’t all the same.