Ignorance

Ignorance is the beginning of knowledge; knowledge is the beginning of wisdom; wisdom is the awareness of ignorance. (William Rotsler)

(A) There aren't too many things in life as damaging as ignorance. While we have all heard the saying that "ignorance is bliss," we all know that this particular saying is just words that we hear a lot. The truth is that ignorance is a very damaging aspect of many of our lives, and I know that in my Iife, it has caused me a lot of pain, frustration, confusion, and aggravation. And I know that the worst time is when I act out of ignorance rather than taking the time to find out more information about a situation, and this has happened much more than I would like to admit.

(B) Ignorance means having a lack of information, or lack of knowledge. It is different from stupidity which is lack of intelligence, and different from foolishness which is lack of wisdom. For example, I am completely ignorant of most aspects of quantum physics. I know almost nothing about the topic, and I am the first to admit that I am almost completely ignorant about the field. The same goes for chemistry, veterinary medicine, current politics in Indonesia, and many, many other topics.

(C) Ignorance is the main force behind almost all prejudices and biases. Even the word "prejudice" implies "prejudging," or judging beforehand, and we have to ask "before what?" The answer, of course, is before having all the knowledge necessary to judge accurately. And if you don't have that knowledge, you are ignorant, yet you are still judging. How can that ever be helpful or even honest? "Knowledge is power," goes the old saying.

(D) Many people who face difficult financial situations do so because of ignorance - ignorance of basic financial principles behind credit, ignorance of tax laws and procedures, and ignorance of concepts such as interest and investing. They find themselves struggling because they just didn't know that putting so much on credit would lead to such high monthly bills. They didn't realize that even paying the minimum monthly
payment on credit doesn't lower the bill enough even to make a dent in the balance. They have believed the hype behind the "buy now" mentality, and they haven't made the effort to look behind that hype and find out the true story.

(E) Many people like to use their ignorance as an excuse, and the words "I didn't know" are their favorite words of all. I had to work with someone like that once, and I found that I couldn't ever depend upon that person. No matter what she was told to do, she would claim "I didn't know you wanted me to do that" the next day when the job hadn't been done. It was one of the most frustrating professional experiences that I (and the other people involved) had ever had. Teens like to use ignorance as an excuse for not doing their chores or certain tasks, and it's important that they learn quickly that ignorance is almost never a valid excuse in real life. In the work world, if you don't know something, you'd better find out-that's what you're getting paid for.

(F) Ignorance is the easy way out, and the easy way out is rarely the best. Fighting our own ignorance takes dedication, desire, and effort. We have to learn, keep an open mind, and step back from prejudging based on religion, race, nationality, skin piercings, tattoos, or any other physical characteristics that lead us to depend upon stereotypes to figure out what a person is like. Ignorance keeps us down, and it keeps us from getting ahead, and the only way to beat it is to search for the knowledge we need in any given situation. Sometimes, that's as easy to do as asking a few simple questions, but other times, it takes a great deal of effort. Either way, it's worth doing.

(G) So don't always buy the first story or claim that you hear if you do, I can guarantee you that you 're ignorant of an important side of the story that sounds much different than the one you have accepted. Don't accept first impressions, for they are based on ignorance of many other aspects of a person or place that you haven't yet seen. And please don't let prejudice ruin your life-the more we learn in life, the more open our minds are, and the more compassionate we can be to our fellow human beings who, like us, are doing the best that they can with what they have.

Modified from: various sources

Paragraphs divide reading material into topics. In the passage above, there are letters next to the seven paragraphs. One paragraph is usually about one topic. Match the paragraphs with their topics and write the letters of the paragraph on the provided lines.

4. ____ The truth about ignorance.