My usual calm being was infuriated by a guy who I shall call “II”- Incompetent Imbecile (I quote from the 1994 movie, Richie Rich. One of my favourites back then.” This is a cappuccino. I asked for a DECAF CAFFE LATTE, you incompetent imbecile!”). I’m working on an article and use Facebook as a tool to get in contact with people and get their opinion on various subjects. I would have thought unfortunate, but perhaps fortunate would be a better word to describe that I came across such a guy. An eye opener that such guys aren’t only talked about, but really do exist! “II” gave his opinion, with insistence that I agree to what he says. In response to his first message I said that I ‘understand’ what he means (but I obviously see two sides to a story, the negatives and the positives). He responses were brusque and holds no weight with me…
II: Undrstand.ing an agreen wid wme is 2 dif tings madam
Me: One can understand but not necessarily agree. Of what importance is the differentiation, in relevance to my reply?
II: Do you agree ? Or do u udrstand,tink b4 u answr!!
Me: Well, open minded people can listen to what other people say and understand their opinions. In life, you don’t have to agree with everything other people say. So u are entitled to your opinion. If we all agreed on every subject, we would be a homogeneous bunch of uninteresting people. There would be no reason to seek out different people, getting their perception on life. And yes, I always think before I answer. Do u always answer questions, with the expectation that people should agree with your opinion? I still fail the to see the significance of the obvious importance u place on me understanding what u say, but not agreeing.
II: Well madaam so be it,i said wat is rite.an it was rite.end of story
Aah…this last sentence gives clear evidence to his ignorance. I have heard of such people…they are highly educated when it comes to Islamic knowledge and think that that their opinions reign supreme. So what if they have Islamic knowledge? Its of no value if they don’t know how to respect other people and respect their opinions. Don’t get me wrong there are many people out there who are humble, despite their high level of education, and are the type that we can admire, but then there are these, the “II” type.
What’s the use of open dialogue, when the one party believes that only they are right?! What’s the hype about me understanding his opinion, but not agreeing? If someone explains something to me with credible reasons, I may get a clearer picture of what they saying and understand why they saying what they do. However, it doesn’t mean that I should throw my opinions aside and suddenly agree with them. I am my own person and can think what I want to. “II” is entitled to his own opinion, but he has no right to impose his beliefs on me, or anyone else for that matter.
I have a strong dislike for such actions, when people are so close-minded…I have to agree with Sandy, “There is no way to change a close-minded person — that is, unless you have the patience of a saint to actually try and change them…not worth it though”.
Ignorance to the very existence of the imbecile is usually the best response…of course, it is best to do this after you have hi-fived their face. I cant stand these type of ppl.
These type of people are not rare in life, in fact there are very common, you find them everywhere; for example on the internet I have met these types on Facebook, Twitter, Sport sites, web forums, the list is endless…
These people are blinded by their own ignorance, they so much want to believe that they are right that they don’t realise they are wrong.
I’ll cite an example from the Former Vice President of America and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore (it’s a long anecdote so read it until the end):
“When I was a student , a pupil looked at the world map and asked the teacher: “Were the continents ever joined together?”
The teacher replied, are you crazy?? There is so much distance between them!
When the pupil asked another teacher the same question, he replied: “Maybe what you say is right, time will tell us the answer.”
Some years later the “Pangea” theory, which states that all continents were indeed joined together at some point, was proven right.”
That’s what I mean by someone blinded by his own ignorance, the first teacher thought that he had already known everything about the subject, the second accepted the fact that what he has learnt is not always right. There’s no man that has learnt everything, so people have to learn to accept that they can’t be right in everything they say!
Thanks for reading everything I’ve written, I know it’s alot of words to say a simple thing but in life you have to keep trying until you succeed.