Conscientiousness Part Two… An Undeniable Danger
Reflecting on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week brought us right back around to the topic of conscientiousness - but this time it’s a stark reminder that not all of us get to see the world through the same privileged lens. Last week we shared our thoughts about conscientiousness as a hopeful epidemic antidote but when Dr. King talked about it in the 60s, it was from an entirely different place of experience. While words like ‘sincerity’ and ‘conscientiousness’ ring like highly valued qualities, it’s not always the case; it depends on the substance of our convictions.
What Dr. King said in 1963 was “There is nothing more dangerous in all the world than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”. Talk about a sobering sentence. It’s a pairing of words that we just don’t expect maybe because we’re used to (comfortable with?) the dictionary definitions of sincerity and conscientiousness as inherently positive attributes. Throw in some ignorance and stupidity and that’s some serious perspective shifting right there. So how are these qualities aka afflictions still showing up today?
It boils down to whether we accept evidence (i.e., science, data, historical/current events) as opportunities to learn and self-correct. We might even accept that sincere ignorance is at least relatable on the premise that we just don’t know what we don’t know, and if we’re sincerely willing and open to learning something new, there is at least hope for ignorance to be remedied. But conscientious stupidity is not so remediable. It means we have resolved to spread that ignorance with conviction and persistence, like when we:
steadfastly refuse to wear masks in the midst of a pandemic, regardless of the harm to others
deny that white people don’t enjoy a certain privilege by virtue of their skin color, even when virtually every statistic bears it out
… or that black and brown people aren’t discriminated against by virtue of theirs, based on those same statistics
treat acts of violence on our streets (or Capitol) differently, depending on fundamental beliefs or political affiliations
rationalize systemic disparities that hinge on gender/identity, age, economics, mental and physical wellbeing, and yes again, race
When the evidence is undeniable and we reject it anyway, ignorance sprouts a conscientious stupidity. And that is undeniably dangerous.