Pros and Cons of Being Respectfully Ignorant

Your greatest enemy is your own inner perception, is your own ignorance, is your own ego. by leomore™.
Flickr: LeoMore

In the very recent Massachusetts' Senate election race between Martha Coackley and Scott Brown, I have to be upfront and explain that I knew little about each candidate besides their respective political parties. (I did hear some grumblings about Coakley's insulting and aggressive campaign ads.) To be honest, I didn't care to spend my time, money (Time ≠ Money) and time to inform myself about this election. (Not 18, can't vote) I didn't feel it was worth it to take away time from the things that were most important in my life; family, school, reading and lacrosse.

I refer to this as being respectfully ignorant. By being respectfully ignorant, it didn't mean that I didn't believe politics was important or that this election was not a key factor in how this nation will be governed, but as vital as it is to know a lot about a little, you simply can't learn about everything that life has to offer.

A few Pros and Cons of Being RI:

Pros
- Allows to devote your valuable time to what is most important to you. (family, job, sport, hobby, sleep)

- Lets other informed individuals (or talking heads) fill you in on what is most pertinent

- Provides you with the time and focus to be the best in the world at something (Seth Godin-ish)

- It prevents you from looking like a total idiot by trying to talk about something that you have no real clue about

Cons 
- It excludes you from being an informed voter/player/student/etc in a specific topic of discussion

- Some people take your RI as a personal insult and will not understand your decision to not know about their particular interest

- You may be RI of something that you would really enjoy to study, learn or talk about

I believe RI can be a wise move in many circumstances but be sure to use it in moderation. 

Thank you very much for stopping by my blog. I encourage you to leave any comments, questions, or suggestions below. Feel free to email me at [ryandawidjan@gmail.com]
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010
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