“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” ~ Stephen Hawking
The illusion of knowledge is more ignorant that just being ignorant. This idea is more relevant today than any time in history. Examples:
1. Every religion starts with the premise that their religion shares true knowledge and all the other religions share illusions. So every devout religious person loves their own illusions, or at the very least believes anyone of a different faith lives in an illusion of ignorance.
2. Anyone who believes in a flat earth, or thinks no one ever landed on the moon lives in an illusion of knowledge. They perceive themselves as more knowledgeable than scientists, experts, and even general employees in the flight and space industry.
3. AI is already generating incredibly persuasive deep fakes and while we used to use a discerning eye to catch a lie, soon we will need to be more discerning to catch the truth. The illusion of knowledge will be more rampant than actual, factual knowledge.
We are moving from an era of knowledge seekers to an era of illusions and ignorance.
The truth is out there… it’s just a lot harder to find, and even harder to defend.