Ignorance vs Arrogance

Mike discusses the concept of ignorance, particularly in the context of political and social discourse.

I'm Mike George, and welcome to a riveting episode of Open Mike LIVE!

It’s Tuesday, 14 October 2025, and I’m just finishing the workday at around 5:00 pm EDT in the Columbus Metropolitan Library. I've always fancied myself a "corner office bitch," so I've fashioned this lovely little pseudo-office to myself on the 3rd floor, complete with this beautiful view of the skyline behind me. I don't sing the praises of this library enough, so we'll do a little magical walkthrough, as I exit to proceed with my day and perhaps get something to eat.

An interesting topic that came up on a recent episode was intelligence. We talked a lot about defining artificial intelligence (AI) and how we discuss it going forward, as it’s becoming increasingly important in our technological and real lives. You know, I think sometimes the best way to understand something is to kind of explore the opposite of it. So, in exploring the opposite of intelligence, I started taking a more academic look at ignorance. What is ignorance, and why is it such a bad thing?

I opened up the topic of ignorance and the sort of stigma we have attached to it. In our national discourse, we sort of regard people who are ignorant as second-class citizens. But when we do that, we immediately villainize our audience, which is never a good thing to do in a persuasive argument, particularly one involving politics. When we immediately lambast a person because they didn't know something, we unwittingly create an unnecessary foe when we are trying to gather allies and come to some common framework of what the hell is going on in our country - politics… that thing we've been so bad at lately that it's almost always impolite to talk about at dinner anymore. So, here I am at the library, one of the more polite places!

(Proceeding down the stairs)

I hear the word "ignorance" discussed a lot with regards to how we talk about Trump people. The negative connotation that comes with discussing ignorance kind of works against us when we try to enlighten people without pissing them off and creating more social division. I think some of the things I touched on before were kind of the basic axioms of respect and assuming positive intention when you are in those little political discussions, or really any talk or discussion in general.

It's a perfect 20-degree day outside, once again in Columbus, Ohio, in the Kaufman Plaza, just behind the Columbus Metropolitan Library. I’m setting some stuff down; I’m doing that thing where I try to do a Facebook live while carrying everything and somehow juggling things without yet messing everything up.

I want to refer you guys to the last video I did about artificial intelligence, specifically the tail end of part two, where I talk about ways to engage with people. We need to do our little part to chip away at the fog that ignorance that might befall them, as well as us. Part of our job in maintaining the values I espoused about civil engagement involves knowing, or at least being open to the idea, that you might be wrong. You have to be open to being convinced of somebody else's points if sound logic and rationale hold up. That’s part of the whole name of the game when it comes to figuring shit out these days in the modern information age.

I guess my big takeaway about what is ignorance is that it absolutely has to be distinguished from what I've coined for myself as "willful disregard." That's different. When I use the term "douchebag" to describe certain people, I'm referring to that hostile disregard of others. These types of folks have considered the others around them, but are saying "fuck you” anyways. That's different than just plain old ignorance of not knowing and making a mistake.

We would do well for ourselves to distinguish the difference when we talk to each other. We need to make ourselves vulnerable to being convinced we are wrong, allowing ourselves that little bit of *humility to enlighten us in what is becoming a confusing time of informtion and loads and loads of misinformation.

I’ll keep this short and sweet, baby. Thank you all for the support over the last few days. If you like what you see and want mama to have enough money to hire a twink perhaps in the future, consider dropping a dollar on the attached link below.

Until then, this has been Mike. As we head home from work, here’s a safety note: be aware of the changing hours of daylight. Consider that in your risk analysis of how many terrible drivers are going to be on the road — many of whom, I promise you, are almost certainly not going to have their headlights on. In the meantime, take care of yourselves and take care of somebody else and put on your goddamn headlights, please!