knowledge or ignorance : which do you think has caused more harm in the world?

Question

kehkohjones - i agree with your definitions, i dont know why you would think otherwise.
you didnt really answer my q but thanks for trying :P

Answer 1

Good Q.

Until the advent of the scientific method and the sciences based on it , I would have to say Ignorance, up to now, has caused more harm than good. Now however, I think the knowledge we have acquired about the physical universe and the application of that knowledge to build weapons or certain technologies that could make the planet unihabitable by humans or even all life forms, has the potential of causing greater harm beating past and future Ignorance hands down. Hopefully,Human Wisdom will prevail and we will see how to keep knowledge and ignorance in check. One can only hope....TWH 08172006

Answer 2

I would say knowledge. Ignorance on its own makes a person a harmless fool. However, in the name of knowledge the greater hurt has been done. Hitler did what he did because he "knew" and preached the superiority of the Germanic race, he "knew" and denounced the Jewish race. The reason why he got away with it wasn't because everyone was ignorant, it was because everything he said ACTUALLY made sense-THATS the quite scary part you see when you read his writing.
The atomic bombs were dropped by USA on civillians in the KNOWLEDGE that it would end the war sooner.
People murder ithers in the KNOWLEDGE that they have something they want. In almost every court case for murder the MOTIVE is the central focus. The murderer had a KNOWLEDGE that they were going to kill the person. If doing it in ignorance that it was a wrong then its usually for insanity reasons or an accident. Motive is the key and knowledge is the answer.
Knowledge is the greater evil of these two but thanks to sense we can marry it to knowledge and give rise to wisdom.

Answer 3

Hmm.

Knowlege is ignorance, therefore ignorance is the cause of all harm. The intention behind the ignorance, whether to harm or not, is beside the point... the knowlege of men is a blanket so small it cant keep you warm, it can only cover your face and leave you naked.

All decisions are made in darkness. No future is known, no result is guaranteed. We have ideas that are more or less strengthened by some observation, but they are not the same thing as knowlege. It could all change tomorrow and catch the predictive model of those who think they know with its metaphorical pants down.

Answer 4

HA! What a wonderful question. Believe it or not, Ignorance is bliss. If used right, ignorance can lead us all to happiness, but that's never the case. Knowledge is power, and with ignorance we abuse that power and harm others. A good friend is someone who like you for who you are and not what you wear, or how much money you have. A good friend is thus ignorant of all bad things and only aware of the good. Knowledge is a tricky subject. To be a clever guardian, you must also be a clever thief. To effectively guard an object you must know how theifs think, and what methods they will used to get the object you are guarding, to better protect it. One who is best at curing diseases is also capable of starting new ones, because of their knowledge in medicine. What im trying to say is that both knowledge and ignorance are good and bad. But that's not answering your question. To answer it, I think knowledge has caused more harm to the world because it leads to biological warfare, nuclear bombs, tanks, guns, super soldiers; it makes for killing at the mass. But for the most harm in everyday situations... ignorance.

Answer 5

It isn't knowledge that causes harm~

It's irrefragable belief. Of course ignorance, of the naive kind, is also assiduously harmful~ But believing something AGAINST evidence, or casting a theory selectively without basis in fact, IGNORING reality, is the abrasive catalyst for the most treacherous suffering.

We do not condemn the surgeon who, despite the best of his ability-- according to the currently best strategies in medical science-- loses the life of a patient. We may even call him wrong later, or call the surgery a horrendous tragedy akin to lobotomy. But would we fault him? or science? Most likely, and justifiably so IF he acted on poor premises, IF the theories were unsubstantiated. IF not, then the patient is victim of circumstance and testament to the community as what-not-to-do. Doctors can be wrong, but they learn. Dogmatists cannot.

Retrospectively, how could you call such a gross injustice, as a lobotomy, knowledge? It was never a belief worthy of truth... Unless you formulate truth around contingencies, which will be self-refuting in the end.

Hitler was wrong. Nazism is not knowledge, it's ignorance, systematically construed to seduce all the angst and fury of a nation with unshakable and insane patterns of unjustified belief.

Answer 6

The fruits of knowledge in the hands of ignorance are what cause the most harm in the world.

Answer 7

I don't know if I share the same definitions with the questioner.

Knowledge, to my understanding, comes from being informed, knowing facts and data, having understanding (enlightenment), etc., which often comes from experiences, observations and education or academic training, which is not to be mistaken with wisdom that implies superior judgment based on experience. I suspect that knowledge has been the cause of man's periodic rise to excellence for having the foresight to benefit from past mistakes and errors, and benefit one's fellow Man. Great thinkers, scientists, great leaders and great philosophers have had knowledge... and the greatest of all have had wisdom. History can attest to that.

On the other hand, ignorance is based on not being exposed to culture and common sense education (observation) but being oblivious to and not possessing sound judgment due to a vagueness of education and culture; it is not stupidity. There have been some very ignorant leaders that rose to power solely on their strong will and violence, like Idi Amin.

Stupidity defines someone who has had education but has not learned to apply it, or refuses to. It is having tenacity to perform with irrationality and without common sense and without a sense of humanity. Stupidity includes such practices as racism and bigotry and fanaticism. If anything, stupidity has been the most harmful to Mankind; stupidity has caused much wholesale destruction, suffering and slaughtering. Leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini quickly come to mind.

Answer 8

Undebatably Ignorance. Knowledge is the basis on which the refinement of truth begins. Truth allows us to act in our best interest with the most accurate information. To willfully avoid truth is to seek delusion. Kant wrote an excellent essay called "In Answer to the Questions: What is Enlightenment." I highly recommend it.

Answer 9

Ignorance has been the cause of the most travesties in the world. Especially, when the ignorant think they actually have knowledge.

Answer 10

Ignorance has definitely cause more harm in the world. But knowledge sometimes is dangerous if fallen into the wrong hands such as..............the atomic bomb.