By Nan Lund

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of trying something that turned out badly. You may have thought, “I made a stupid mistake.” Was it stupid or was it ignorant on your part? If you knew better, but proceeded anyway, it was stupid. If your failed product or performance was because you didn’t know how to do it due to lack of practice, experience or education, it was ignorant. If I give my dog chicken bones, I’m being stupid because I know they can splinter and cause serious stomach problems. If I let him eat a whole ham bone (which I did) I claim ignorance because I didn’t think it would hurt him.

Being stupid does not necessarily mean that one is slow to learn or understand. It can also mean tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.

What if a parent doesn’t make a child brush her teeth? Is it because it’s too much of a hassle even though the parent knows that’s what is causing tooth decay? Or is it because he doesn’t know that there is a relationship between regular teeth brushing and reduction of cavities? In the first case, I would call it stupid and in the second, ignorance. The good thing about ignorance is that it is fixable through experience or education. Thank goodness for Google. Maybe not so much for stupid.

What if a lead group of people all belong to an organization that has a great deal of responsibility for keeping other people safe. Maybe even a whole country. If they decide to do something that puts other people at risk, are they stupid or ignorant? Once again, look for the facts. If the lead group doesn’t know the rules and procedures that are in place to protect their people, they are definitely ignorant; perhaps too ignorant to hold their positions. If they know the rules and choose to disregard them, what can we call that? Stupid and possibly dangerous. 

“Dear Neighbor” authors are united in a belief that civility and passion can coexist. We believe curiosity and conversation make us a better community.