Ignorance ain't bliss.

There’s a certain renaissance now days in the wisdom of MT, which shouldn’t be surprising given the lack of moral leadership in the world today. He was fearless in castigating any and all whom he deemed unworthy of human potential and often said he had more confidence in four legged animals and not so much in human ones. He once said “Often it does seem such a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat,” and that if a man was combined with a cat, the cat would be lesser and man the better.

For these reasons, and others, he was considered to be uncommonly wise and thought, for the most part, that the rest of us displayed consistent ignorance, particularly when it came to politicians. His even handed critiques were understood widely since he dealt with everyday foolishness and considered it unseemly to argue with fools. He said, “Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

If MT was compared to The Buddha it would not be inaccurate to say they shared a common reputation for being wise and recognizing ignorance as a core human problem. When The Buddha was asked: “What is that smothers the world? What makes the world so hard to see? What would you say pollutes the world and threatens it the most?” He said, “It is ignorance which smothers and it heedlessness and greed which make the world invisible. The hunger of desire pollutes the world, and the great source of fear is the pain of suffering.” FDR said something more practical, but quite similar and no less wise. He said, “We have always known that heedless self-interest is bad morals; we now know it is bad economics.” Politicians today largely ignore his observation and imply that the opposite is the case (e.g. self-interest/greed is good and translates into good economics). 

The wisdom of MT is more readily known than that of The Buddha. In a certain sense MT’s wisdom might be thought of as symptomatic whereas the wisdom of The Buddha causative. Often times we are drawn to the outside wrapping of a package and less to what the package contains. We are enamored with style and not so much substance, and perhaps for that reason are drawn to the uncommon wisdom of MT instead of the profound wisdom of The Buddha.

MT’s manner was one of scathing assaults on ignorant people and The Buddha’s one of deep sadness and compassion. He understood the source of human failings and recognized why we act in ways that appear to be sheer stupidity. The cause was of little concern to MT. He was a shrewd satirist and commentator on actions, often times without understanding or giving consideration to what led to them.

Before launching Uncommon Sense, barely a month ago, I wrote another blog for seven years regarding the wisdom of The Buddha. It took that much time, with a collection of 280 posts, to gain a worldwide audience of over 30,000 readers. Yet in little over one month Uncommon Sense has garnered an audience of over 1,000 readers. At that rate, if continued, Uncommon Sense will reach the same high bar in one percent of the time. 

That is a telling observation and speaks to the difference in grasping satirical humor instead of a profound understanding of why we are, as MT puts it, pathetic: “Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.” In any event we need both: the indiscriminate scolding for everyday foolishness and a deeper understanding that leads us all away from stupidity and onto a higher moral plain.