This morning I came across a click-bait link titled “I’m 78 and my brain is sharp as a whip – My #1 rule” which I found too tempting to pass by.

His #1 rule? “I embrace my ignorance.” (Turns out, this spry author went on to list three additional rules, but these were largely variations on the theme.)

As an aspiring geezer who delights in learning new things, this idea of embracing ignorance struck me as an intriguing way of reframing things. Perhaps the chemical buzz I feel when grasping new knowledge is actually about overcoming ignorance?

I was struck by the prospect of such a paradigm shift. What a refreshing new idea!

… Well, no. Not quite. All it took to highlight my lack of knowledge was a quick Amazon search for books on the topic:

• “Understanding Ignorance” (Daniel R. Denicola)
• “Ignorance: A Global History” (Peter Burke)
• “Ignorance: How It Drives Science” (Stuart Firestein)
• “Profiles In Ignorance” (Andy Borowitz)
• “Embracing Ignorance: The Power of Being Stupid” (Dariana Prime)
• “Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance” (Robert N. Proctor)
• “The Encyclopedia of Ignorance” (Ronald Duncan)
• “The Book of General Ignorance” (John Mitchinson)
• “The Way of Ignorance” (Wendell Berry)
• “Of Learned Ignorance” (Nicolas Cusanus)
• “The Cult of Ignorance” (Robin Jackson)
• “The Armies of Ignorance” (William R. Corson)
• “Science and the Production of Ignorance” (Janet A. Kourany)
• “The Conspiracy of Ignorance” (Martin L Gross)
• “Deliberate Ignorance” (Strüngmann Forum Reports)
• “Willful Ignorance” (Herbert I. Weisberg)
• … and on it goes …

At this time in our civilized world, as we fret over our collective future in the face of breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, I discovered there’s a deeply established cottage industry bent on addressing humanity’s genuine ignorance.

So much for stumbling upon a fresh new idea. Never got my seratonin buzz. Ignorance: +1 Bliss: 0.