Why Dedicate a Site to Agniology?
I am fascinated by our willingness to be be willfully ignorant (and yes, I do include myself in that ‘we’).
I find it amusing, and a little bit scary, that we ‘believe’ things without sufficient evidence, and disbelieve things despite the presence of abundant evidence (no, Creationists and Dawkins followers, I am not looking specifically at you, although your time in the barrel will come soon enough).
We often seem to confuse ‘intelligence’ with ‘knowledge’, forgetting that even perfect logic is of little use when applied to incorrect. or incomplete, data.
Many of us see ‘knowledge’ as something that was drummed into us intensively during our school days, after which we just need to ‘top it up’ a bit as we get older.
Some even see the pursuit of knowledge as something to be avoided, perhaps believing that it is of little use unless it actually helps one with one’s short term goals.
Others may feel that their head is almost full, and that more learning may cause something bad to happen. If I may take the liberty of selectively quoting Homer Simpson:
Oh, and how is “education” supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.
I am sure we can have a lot of fun analysing the myriad of other reasons people use to justify their state of blissful ignorance.
What’s The Agniology Site Going to Do, Then?
Hmm… right now, that is one of the things of which I am ignorant.
Ignorance is a big and scary subject to take on. Despite the human race having the intelligence and ability to produce amazing inventions, great philosophical works, incredible art etc… we are capable of destroying our entire planet due to willful ignorance, (not a reference to global warming specifically, but to our self-destructive capabilities in general).
I am not foolish enough to think that I can change any of that by posting a few comments on a website, but, if we all work together we might be able to make our ride to inevitable destruction a little more enjoyable by poking fun at ignorance in general, and a few specific individuals who present easy targets.
I have some vague plans for the the direction the site will take, and I think ‘vague’ is probably best here. Part of the issue with any attempted analysis of ‘ignorance’ is the presence of ignorance in the analysis itself. We don’t know the things we don’t know etc. So it will stay ‘vague’ until ‘stuff’ happens for us to react to.
Having said that, in general terms, I am hoping there will be some satire, a little philosophy, a (no doubt futile) attempt to educate those in need, and a LOT of my own ignorance as well.
Thought For The Day
Will Jesus Destroy Your Business this Christmas?
Are Businesses avoiding religion for fear of it impacting on their revenue streams?
Are religious Christmas cards in decline? Festive Collection (business christmas card specialists) say ‘Yes’
As Christmas becomes more commercial, are Businesses becoming less religious?
