I got email!- Ignorance is bliss

I received one last email, and I will admit that this one has lit a fire under me:

Dear Ian,

Many humans consider that ignorance is bliss, so remain blissful.

Best regards,
Victor

This is probably the deepest insult I have received in a long time, hence why I have waited a little while before posting this.

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. ~Marcus Aurelius

First, let me make one thing abundantly clear, ignorance is not a good thing.  Ignorance is not bliss.  Ignorance is the poison of humanity that infects and festers within minds, turning them sour and hateful.  Ignorance erodes the souls of humanity, causing otherwise good people to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty.  Ignorance is not even blissful for the ignorant, their own ignorance is a curse upon their lives that forbids them from living to their potential.  For someone to encourage another to live in ignorance is to condemn them in the most uncertain of terms.

That Mr. Senchenko has ended our conversation in this way has lead me to conclude three things:

 1) He does not hold the respect for knowledge he claims to.  If you are right, secure in that knowledge, and meet someone who shows no hostility in their disagreement, why not show them why you are right?  Even they disagree to the end, you will discover whatever key piece of information or reasoning that keeps them from accepting your ideas.  With that in mind, you can refine your position or, depending on the reason, agree to disagree.  There are amiable ways to end such debates, but calling the other person ignorant and wishing them to remain as such is not.

2) He, by default, thinks less of anyone who disagrees with him.  He assumes, as a matter of course, that those who disagree are wilfully ignorant, incapable of understanding him, or hostile.  To assume this is to close yourself off to any possible faults in your views or their presentation.  It also cuts those who disagree with you off from what you are trying to persuade them of, only making it harder for them to rationally accept it.

3) He lacks intellectual rigour.  I have debated with many people in the past on many different subjects, but not once did someone ignore an entire set of questions and challenges so early in a debate.  Every time they stood by their ideas even under assault by multiple people and responded to every (or at least most) challenges.  I have never seen someone back down in such a way, he clearly is not willing to argue  his ideas or even critically examine them.

All this being said, it is now time for me to withdraw from debate with him.  Clearly nothing will be gained since he refuses to divulge his evidence or reasoning or even treat me like some semblance of an equal.  Equally clear is that he is not interested in arguing in favour of his own ideas at length, I should accept them readily and without question.

Remember how all this started.  He sent me an unsolicited message about his book, and I investigated to see if it would be a good read.  I figured that it would not be but was willing to give him a chance to persuade me and those who read this blog (all two of you) that it would be worth reading.  In that regard, this has been an abominable failure.  At least he got more traffic on his site.

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