Blog Title

Although the most direct source of the title of this blog is Proverbs 4:7, it is interesting that similar cross references can be found in the Bible: Psalms 119:104, Proverbs 4:5 and 16:16. To me, this is the key to the ills of the world today in all areas of life. Ignorance has been highlighted and people are proud of it with the attitude of "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up". People don't know history, whether it be the history of science, the history of religion, the history of philosophy or any other subcategory. They have not been taught to think for themselves and adequately discern information. Instead they live in a world clouded by FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) given to them by demagogues who "know what's best" for the "peepul" where the height of "instruction" relies on speaking vague innuendo with an unfavorable slant to it.

There was a reason for teaching the old liberal arts in school, it did teach people to research, think and draw rational conclusions. Now you often see lies being put forth that a tiny bit of research would uncover, but nobody knows how or they are unwilling (for good or bad reasons) to go any further in track down the sources. This results in problems because there is a lot of "smoke" in the air. Now while it is true that where there is smoke, there is fire, it takes discernment (secular or Christian, depending on the issue) to see if the smoke is coming from a firestorm or a smudgepot. Without knowledge, ability to discern becomes strictly limited.

With this lack, I'm seeing an increasing dependency among people in general to cling to authoritarian pronouncements that they accept without question. I'm also seeing more of attempts to simply remove "problems" without knowing the full details of the situation. Of course, I'm not guiltless in this situation, but then it isn't always a bad thing. It does save time if you can trust your people.