Of Ignorance

Ignorance is the root of timidity, as well as the spring of audacity. In need of actions ignorance magnifies character, when the bold will march forward, as there is nothing seen awful enough; the timid will retreat, as there is no assurance (warrant for success); and the cautious will wait, as he has no grasp of circumstances. Therefore, it is good to keep him uninformed when his fashion is to be discovered; and then either fatigue his spirit with a labour of Hercules, or hit his mind with a sudden surprise.

It has been observed that it is most difficult to feel one’s own ignorance, if it does not take more labour to assure one’s own knowledge. It has been well said that the more he knows, the more he wonders; yet it is more common that he knows too little to feel his own ignorance. Nothing is easier than to deceive one’s self. The arch-flatterer, with whom all petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man’s self; men have more temerity to claim his own omniscience, than to confess his own ignorance; and also more eagle-eyed to the faults of others, than to his own. Hence Zeng Guofan gave his sentence: an excellent discerner of characters observes himself; an excellent observer of himself observes his own mind.

But it is no easy task to prove true knowledge; for the agreement between knowledge and truth is hard to assure, as it is too much ado to find truth, not to mention the incessant changes this restless world brings. Donald Henry Rumsfeld expressed it with a twist of tongue, which well tells the three stages to knowledge: there is something we know that we know; there is also something we know that we don’t know; and there is still something we don’t know that we don’t know.

Mere compilation of information is not knowledge, but a waste of paper or of efforts; nor is mere thoughts of limited scope, however elaborated they are, for they are divorced from the reality, and shrink into its own corner, without a single foothold in the universe. Practice brings knowledge; truth will not dawn without inquiry. And for mean persons, who account for the majority, mere thinking is arduous enough to overcome their aspiration; so in adversity they merely grumble at their futureless life; in prosperity they lavish and relish their present; and both call it destiny, without the audacity of hope, not to mention the insight into future or the vision toward Heaven. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness; the pity is that they have no match.

Practice is the touchstone for knowledge; so it is for ignorance. But the means to discover them differ: it is easier to veil knowledge, than to conceal ignorance, for there is only one truth among a myriad of possibilities. Therefore honesty is truly the best policy, as sheep’s clothing is too often a common case. Emergency is universally a stage for true character, where masques are fatal; inconspicuous observation is enough for ignorance; but knowledge, and intelligence, is hard to prove without evidence from other sources, if he is wise enough to pretend a fool.

Sometimes foolishness is no bad choice, especially when a sane mind must go insane. With no hope seen or no choice acceptable certainly it’s better to turn a blind eye to it, and attribute the miserable vision to blindness, so that the mirage still remains; just like for warriors perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures, usually either in spirits, or in venery. Perhaps that’s why some saints are eventually maniacs; they see far more than the mediocre, who with little resistance surrender to destiny; but are too near-sighted in comparison with God, who has truly forged it for mankind as a whole, regardless of any individual creature.

(Acknowledgement of the kindness of Shangguan, Gary Chen, and Wang Jieli)

2/7/2011