What is Ignorance?
Ignorance is a term that describes a person’s lack of knowledge. The term is derived from the Latin ‘ignorantia’, and has the root word ‘ignore’ which means to deliberately disregard something. In the case of ignorance, information is available but the subject is unaware, uneducated or uninformed about it. A person who exhibits ignorance is called an ‘ignorant’, which is commonly used as a derogatory term; and more degrading still, one can be called an ‘ignoramus’.

Ignorance is not the same as stupidity, although they are usually interchanged in use when it comes to casual conversation. Stupid is more of a state of intelligence, or more precisely a state of being slow in mind. Ignorance on the other hand is more of being uninformed, or someone who has deliberately chosen not to educate himself with something.

Some of the most common sayings concerning ignorance include the latin ‘ignorantia juris non excusat’ or ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’ which pertains to the law being applicable to those who are unaware of it; and ‘ignorance is bliss’ which pertains to people being better off not knowing of an event or occurrence that will only make them feel bad.