Ignorant and Proud: Inside the Minds of Those Who Think They Already Know Everything

-------------- In this article we will discuss a very important, if often underestimated, topic, namely ignorance and its impact on society. We will take a look at its evolution in history, trying to understand how the ancients perceived it and how it is viewed in contemporary times. We will try to understand the root causes behind closed-mindedness and the motivations that drive a person to boast about his or her intellectual limitations. Through a modern movie about a society based on stupidity, we will stimulate readers to reflect and try to get out of the tunnel of ignorance. The decline in IQ in recent decadesThere are various methods for measuring an individual’s level of intelligence, one of which is the IQ (intelligence quotient) test. This examination assesses logical abilities, such as problem-solving through reasoning, and although it cannot analyze the complexities of the human mind, it is still a standard and fairly reliable tool. According to studies by U.S. psychologist James Robert Flynn done in the 1980s, the level of IQ in the population has been gradually declining since 1970, in contrast to surveys prior to that date, which showed steady growth generation after generation. Therefore, we can assert that human intelligence is regressing, facilitating ignorance in its systematic and educationThe role of education in the pastIn earlier centuries, people educated themselves differently than they do today. There were academies, religious institutes, colleges and universities that provided access to any field of knowledge. They were not structures aimed at specializing students only in one particular field, but provided them with a holistic view of knowledge. However, it was only members of the wealthy classes who were able to participate in these courses or could afford private teachers. Levels of education and culture were very high; it was not uncommon for students to know several foreign languages or to juggle a variety of disciplines, including the arts, without difficulty. The Italian writer Giacomo Leopardi represents a perfect example of these teachings reserved for nobles. He was in fact a man of great culture; he was not simply a writer whose literary works represent one of the pillars of Italian literature, but he also learned many foreign languages, such as Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, English, Spanish, and German, and took an interest in philosophy, logic, and physics. While the aristocrats could draw on all the knowledge available up to that time, the poor classes were illiterate and did not have the means to educate themselves. They were excluded from knowledge, as their role was to work and pay tribute in order to be able to support themselves. One can say that culture, in the past, was therefore subordinate to the social class to which they role of education in the presentThings changed during the 20th century because of the needs of companies for skilled workers who could use and design the machinery essential for production on an industrial level. So, governments instituted compulsory schooling and created public schools that everyone could have access to. This was an important event, as it addressed the serious problem of illiteracy that plagued many states. Today, in the Western world, education is accessible to all; fortunately, there is no longer a division based on social rank, and even non-wealthy students can study at the most prestigious and renowned institutions. Given this background, one would think that nowadays the cultural level and spread of knowledge would be higher, but is this really the case? If you take a close look at people, you will instead notice widespread education to specializationThis widespread lack of culture is due to the declining quality of learning offered by educational institutions. Today’s schools offer schoolchildren generic and shallow notions and focus more on the business world, increasingly resembling workshops aimed at learning a trade, rather than focusing on knowledge. In the past, much emphasis was placed on the humanities, such as philosophy, history, literature, philology and the arts, while in modern times there is a preference for the study of technique and practice, thus creating specialists who do not possess general knowledge or critical and the loss of values