One of my favorite works of art is a painting by the Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch titled The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (The Cure of Folly). Or as some reference works refer to it, The Stone Operation.

My interest is piqued by what the surgery is supposed to be for. In those times, logic and medicine could not be used in the same sentence. For instance for a long time, it was believed that shedding pints of blood would help a patient get over a fever. But I digress. The man is about to have a stone removed from his head. And no, it was not lodged there by any normal means. It’s not like he was struck, or he fell on it.

The folklore at the time stated that folly, or stupidity, was caused by a stone that was lodged in the brain. The size of the stone was directly proportional to a man’s stupidity. In short, the sillier the man, the larger the rock. The man in the painting has decided that he’s had enough of being the village idiot and wants to get rid of the stone that is impeding his brilliance from shining forth. Or maybe his family pushed him to do it.

Either way, I laud him. I just wish that it were real. I wish that modern science could come up with a way to rid mankind of the stupidity and ignorance that is afflicting the world. And this is not just limited to the uneducated or the semi-literate. I would dare say that all prejudices are based on stupidity and a whole lot of ignorance. That is just one example.

All the world’s problems would be solved if everyone would just take a little time to just get to know abit more. I am not going to pontificate here. I too suffer from occassional bouts of folly. A sweeping statement? Maybe… But look at it this way…

-If Americans had taken a little more time to find out what exactly was going on in Iraq, I am sure there would have been a much more peaceful solution the debacle that was that nation. Now, calling Iraq a debacle is a great understatement.

-If the world had paid attention to Rwanda just two weeks after the genocide started, 800,000 people would still be alive and Central Africa would be a whole lot more peaceful. But instead, they decided to ignore it. And now, aside from the massive loss of life, Uganda, Burundi, and DRC have all felt the effects of that one nation’s unrest.

-If world leaders had acted a whole lot earlier, I am sure Hitler woul have thought twice about setting up the concentration camps that killed millions and alienated an entire country from the rest of the world.

-If only Third World leaders would get to know how much their kow-towing to the whims of the developed nations hurt their citizens, the extent of poverty in their nations wouldn’t be so widespread. So many more lives would be saved. If only they could step up to the giant pharmaceuticals and manufacture the generic drugs that would help the massive numbers of their population that suffer from HIV/AIDS.

I could rant on and on about the folly that belies all the deaings that we as humans engage in a day to day basis. Time, though, would fail me. Some may claim rational ignorance.

When is ignorance ever rational? When the cost of educating oneself about the issue sufficiently to make an informed decision can outweigh any potential benefit one could reasonably expect to gain from that decision, and so it would be irrational to waste time doing so.

For example if I need to read a whole manifesto to know a candidates stand, then rather than read it, I’d rather just vote for the one I find most attractive, or eloquent, or whoever wins the coin toss. And trust me that is an election technique.

By increasing the number of issues that one would need to consider in order to pick the correct person, the politicians and their minions simply reduce it to a matter of single topic, or a party line. Thus despite having a list of about 200, a candidate may choose a single topic such as tax reduction as his punch line. And most of us when faced with a choice between tax reduction and better infrastructure, would go for the former. Despite the fact that the candidate who promises better infrastructure has a better manifesto, and/or qualifications.

In short, life on earth would be a whole lot more better if we paid just a little more attention; tried to learn a little more.

So next time you have to make a decision, whether it is buying a product, or buying a politicians line, just take some time to find out a little more.