The Reign of Ignorance in Turkish Society

We live in the information age, but we cannot become an information society. Why is that?

We have great big buildings, we cannot distribute justice, we cannot heal our patients sufficiently, we cannot equip our people with the best of education and knowledge in our schools. But in social media and visual media, our so-called great academics and politicians continue to tell tales from La Fontaine to the society, with exceptions. In the society in general, the situation of ‘The one who knows does not speak, the one who speaks does not know’ is dominant. ‘Speaking comes from creation, silence comes from the mind.’ says Lehmann. As long as the information is discussed, evaluated, debated, deficiencies and mistakes are corrected in a real sense in a society.

In societies like ours, something is missing, as if knowing, knowledge is boring. Because we don't read, we don't research, but when it comes to talking, we don't shut our mouths. As such, the nation can neither get out of trouble nor out of trouble.

Undoubtedly, the act of speaking is the most powerful of human characteristics. Of course, it is a very strong urge to talk, to tell our troubles and to maintain our interaction with other people, and what should be done is to get along by talking. Because we are human beings. People get along by talking. However, the point to be considered is ‘what or what’ we talk about.

According to researches, as our level of education in a subject or speciality increases, the rate of claiming the information we know decreases inversely. So what does this mean? For example, let's consider the science of psychology; while a person who has not received any education in psychology claims to know everything in the science of psychology, a person who has a doctorate in psychology prefers to speak less than a person who has not received any education. Because a wise person weighs his/her words and speaks with weight. Like those who know little or know nothing, they do not talk in vain or shake in vain.

As a result, the following question comes to mind: why do we Turks, if not all of us, then the majority of us, want to have so much say in areas where we are not competent?

Aristotle says in his proposition, ‘Man by nature wants to know.’ Undoubtedly, this proposition is an existential urge. It is absolute truth. However, do we want to know or do we want people to see us as knowledgeable and ultimately respect us?

Man is a social being. He lives in the community, the society that surrounds him, and he wants to be accepted by that community, he wants to belong. It is precisely at this point that people talk a lot, they want to talk a lot in order to show that they are at the same level as others or that they have more knowledge. However, what we usually see is that such people cannot even fill the words they speak. Because his/her concern is to be accepted by the society, not because he/she knows the subject or to inform other people with his/her knowledge. Therefore, he speaks ‘in vain’.

This is the real danger and the point that we should pay attention to, which deeply affects our interaction with other people and leads us to a problem that makes us think ‘where am I going wrong and people are moving away from me’.

If people could speak only as much as they know, our world would undoubtedly become a much quieter yet meaningful place. Instead of ignorance, knowledge and scholars would reign. The ignorant would not be so reckless, they would not attempt to drag society down...