Ignorance

[A S]

Dear SEELANGers,

Yes, Kore that is a nice comment, but I am not sure that the issue  
being discussed is a question of intelligence. I think it has been  
more concentrated on the lack or gaps in general knowledge amongst  
educated people which can very well be a separate issue.

I do not think anyone is disturbed by the ignorance of gulags and the  
location of oceans among the illiterate or even the literate for whom  
these things are not necessarily immediately relevant. People are  
taken aback that students of Russian/Soviet studies have never heard  
the word 'gulag' or that American students who are taught geography  
in school don't know where the Atlantic Ocean is. Incidentally, just  
because you take someone to experience the ocean for the first time  
does not mean they then know where it is located.

There is a second part to this thread which is about the general  
ignorance of middle class Americans whom we generally assume to have  
gone to school to obtain a minimum level of general knowledge, i.e.  
geography, etc. I agree that Americans do not have a monopoly on such  
ignorance, but it is a recurring theme abroad for two reasons.

1) The United States is perceived to be wealthy and all which that  
entails in terms of living standards, opportunity, social cohesion  
(whether accurate or not). So ignorance of where the USA is on a map  
by Americans themselves is striking for outsiders.

2) In the last 8-12 years there is a greater sense in the  
international community that the United States has engaged in  
increased unilateral global actions to advance its government's  
interests. Thus when middle class Americans can't locate the country  
they've invaded on a map (despite extensive coverage in the media),  
not only is it disturbing, it gives outsiders the chance to gloat  
over a detected weakness in a nation that has absolute hegemony in  
the world.

I have no doubt that the same type of ignorance could be found among  
many a country and its people. Unfortunately, at the present moment,  
America is generally the one that speaks the loudest and carries a  
very menacing and big stick on the world stage. Thus it and its  
people are under greater scrutiny.

D.S.


On 04.02.2008, at 19:41, Olga Meerson wrote:

> Dear Kore,
> Thank you for the beautiful comment. Very humbling indeed.
> o.m.
>
> Kore Gleason wrote:
>
>> Dear SEELANGers,
>>
>> It has been a pleasure for the long while to read your posts as a  
>> tremendous supplement to my understanding of all things Slavic,  
>> East European, Eurasian and otherwise, and I look forward to many  
>> more discussions and contributions.
>> It has been, however, disheartening reading the accusatory tone  
>> behind this recent string of comments...
>> Sure, we can find it surprising in our particular circles that  
>> someone has not heard of  Lolita, but that is because we’ve had  
>> the privilege to read it. We can find it surprising that a person  
>> doesn’t know where the Atlantic Ocean is, but we forget that we've  
>> had the privilege of seeing it or being taught where/what it is.
>> I would think that History, especially the specific histories of  
>> the gulags, concentration camps and atrocities that have been  
>> mentioned in the same breath of this discussion, would have taught  
>> us the invaluable need to reevaluate what one person’s ignorance  
>> means – and why it entitles another person to feel better,  
>> smarter, greater.
>> If you’ve ever taught American adults how to read for the first  
>> time, helping them string the alphabet soup of the shapes and  
>> sounds of letters together, or held the hand of a Russian who  
>> experiences the ocean for the first time in his multiple-decade(d)  
>> life, marveling at the smell and feel of seaweed and waves,
>> then we’d all understand better that our inequalities in  
>> “intelligence” make us no less equal in humanity.
>> Respectfully,
>>
>> Kore Gleason
>>
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