Stage In The Sky

The Ignorance Bubble

Rock Kitaro

Date – July 17, 2012

Lately, I’ve noticed a trend. And like every negative trend that I can’t help but notice, it involves my generation…

When it comes to a debate or argument, I’m open to the fact that I may be wrong. I truly am. Don’t get me confused with the kind of person who would try anything even if there’s an obvious abundance of evidence to support why I shouldn’t even be debating the topic at all. For instance, I’m not gonna try coke or narcotics if some drug dealer stresses his case to me. Don’t be silly.

To get straight to the point. I have two scenarios involving two people who are afraid to see the truth because they’re young and they know that simply observing the truth would be the downfall of their ignorance bubble?

            “Ignorance Bubble?”

            “Yes, Ignorance bubble.”

I’m sure psychologist and philosophers world wide already have a more concrete and orthodoxed term or phrase for it. And when I find out, I’ll think about putting it in.

But we’ve all been there. In that ignorance bubble. Let’s get real. Have any of us really suspected that Santa Claus’ existed and put presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Did anyone really believe that a fairy walked into our rooms at night and replaced our idle teeth with petty change? Sure you may have acted or pretended to believe in such tales, but the realistic logic was always instilled in us. I think…It must be that or I may have been the most miserable child on earth.

Back to the topic, lets take exhibit A. We’ll call him Dexter. Dexter is a 23 year old male with several brothers and a mother who’s struggling with a progressive mental illness that comes along with her old age. All of the brothers support and give due consideration to the mother because of her condition. And all of them keep her condition in mind when talking to her. Only Dexter seems to be in his own little world.

Dexter doesn’t have a job. Dexter doesn’t call his mother or make any attempt to contact her. He has a degree in some medical field but he’ll never get that job because Dexter likes to present the image of a street tough hip-hop thug. Dexter just goes from city to city, hitting the clubs, smoking weed and bumming money from his friends and any lady that he can convince his love for. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Dexter is a douche.

But don’t fret. I mean, he is 23 after all. It may just be a phase and he may grow out of said phase. But there’s a problem…This phase that he’s in isn’t an independent one. Dexter hasn’t called his mother nor does he like to keep anyone updated with his whereabouts. Dexter believes that he’s just minding his own business and everyone should do the same. Secretly, Dexter has been holding a grudge against his mother for the way she’s treated him. Dexter doesn’t know about her mental condition. His brothers have tried to tell him about it, but Dexter doesn’t want to hear it.

So while Dexter is out partying, living life the way he wants, Dexter’s mother suffers, blaming herself for not treating Dexter right. Dexter’s mother cries and constantly sends out texts to all branches of the family, just for an update on Dexter to make sure he’s safe. Dexter’s mother vents to her other sons. Everyone is suffering because of Dexter and Dexter doesn’t care. When one of the brothers copies the definition of their mother’s disorder and sends it via e-mail to Dexter…Dexter doesn’t read it. He simply replies with “Please leave me alone!”

Let’s go to our other 23 year old. We’ll call her Aly. Aly is a beautiful girl. Aly’s situation is completely different from Dexter’s. Aly isn’t a heartless douche who only cares about herself. Aly loves her brothers and sister and keeps family close. She works hard. She plays even harder. You see, Aly is from this new school of dating. She has about seven guy-friends who she doesn’t call “boyfriends”…but just friends.

Aly soon meets a guy friend named Jack. Jack isn’t your normal garden variety guy. He’s good looking, ambitious and works hard. Aly finds this guy extremely interesting and likes to pick his brain on a number of topics. Jack falls in love with Aly. The signs are all there that the feeling is mutual…but its not. Or rather…its not, according to Aly.

You see, when Aly and Jack meet, the romance is there. Each can feel the electric spark by looking into each other’s eye. Each can make the other smile without a strain of effort. Each knows more than enough history about the other. Each is attracted to the other. But according to Aly…there is nothing more than a simple friendship.

At first this makes Jack frustrated to the point that he wants to leave her alone entirely. But like I said. Jack’s different than most. It’s hard for Jack to give up on people, especially if he feels that the person loves him. The only problem is, that without an official declaration from Aly, Jack feels its vanity and arrogance on his part to think that Aly loves him.

After doing a bit of research…Jack stumbles across the definition of a specific personality type that matches what Aly was claiming herself to be. Aly told Jack that she could control what and how she cares about things. She is very selective about people. She doesn’t give people who have done bad things a chance to explain. And she doesn’t like to judge others. So Jack copies the definition of a specific personality type and pastes it to Aly. Deeply offended, Aly approaches Jack and tells him… “I think we shouldn’t have these conversations anymore.

Simply astonishing isn’t it? Even though the gravity of each circumstance differs substantially, I find it incredibly amusing how when refuted with the standard backing of a world-accept definition, both Aly and Dexter would rather push people away than to see the truth.  Is it a youthful thing? Is it a phase? Was Jack and Dexter’s brother wrong to go so far?

In my opinion, with Dexter, his brother had every right to send him the definition of their mother’s illness to help Dexter better understand. When Dexter told the brother to leave him alone…there’s nothing more that the brother can do. The brother has a choice to make. Should he continue to put up with his brother’s bullshit, or forget about him, regretting nothing should the worse befall Dexter.

With Aly, there is no legal or biblical obligation for Jack to stay with her. If Aly wants Jack to leave her alone, that’s what he should do. I hate to point out how there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but I will stress how ridiculous I think it is to continue striving for a relationship with a girl who doesn’t want you around her.

          “Well, Rock. It sounds like Dexter and Aly were being harrassed.”

Why? Once both told the brother or Jack to that they wanted to be left alone, that’s that. But to present contents to help prove a case to either Dexter or Aly, this isn’t harassment in my book. Sure Dexter and Aly may have felt like they were being harassed. But that’s because they were backed into a corner and their only option was to project the other person to be in the wrong. Vilify the person, if you will.

I can’t respect people like Aly and Dexter. In life you’re gonna run into bumps and trip and fall along the way. To simply avoid such obstacles because it’s a threat to your “ignorance bubble” is pathetic. Its like everyday you’re lying to yourself. Even in the state of Florida, there’s a “turning a blind eye law”. If you’re in a house where there’s overwhelming evidence that would suggest to you that an owner has a kilo of cocaine sitting right on the dining room table, and you don’t want to walk towards it to confirm it. You can still be convicted as an accessory.

How can you improve your character if you only hear what you want to hear. If you only hang around people who are exactly like you. If you refuse to see the alternative because the truth is so conflicting to your personal routine. Such behavior, I feel is truly beneath me.

            “Well, Rock. Are you saying that you know everything that’s going on in the world? What are you doing about it? How do you make a difference? If you can’t do anything about it, why is it important for you to read about it?”

And to those questions, I’ll answer this. I don’t know everything that’s going on in the world. But when the truth is presented to me, I don’t push it away. I embrace it because it’s the world that I live in. I believe in knowledge being power. Knowing what is and what is not strengthens me to make the best decisions and the most accurate assessment of my life and the environment I live in.

When I was 15 years old on September 11^th, 2001. I saw the towers fall and I cried. Soon after, I saw and learned about the subway attacks in Europe. I read about it and I cried. My current homepage is Wikipedia and almost everyday I’m reading about some massacre taking place in the Middle East.

When I was 21 and cared about the one known as Marie M. I told her about the atrocities happening in North Korea. She responded with, “…So? This is America!”

To be completely honest, I’m not sure how my knowledge of such tragedies will have a direct impact on the families of the victims who have lost their loved ones. I don’t know any victims names by heart. I really don’t. But what I do know is that I know the meaning of the phrase, “my heart goes out to them.” Ever since I was little, I’ve always cared about the suffering, the afflicted, the hurt.

            “Well, Rock. That doesn’t sound very happy. It sounds like you had to content with a lot of pain. Don’t you think people deserve to be happy? If not knowing keeps them happy. Then shouldn’t they have a right to oblivion?”

Sure they do… If they’re children. It’s kind of hard to present a valid defense against older people who talk down about my generation if the peers surrounding me have no interest in standing up to make a difference.

Maybe it’s because I care, that I wished everyone cared. Maybe it’s because I’m not afraid to face the obvious logic, that I wish others had the courage. Should I live my life, closed off from the rest of the world and boxed in with the trends of pop culture?  I’ve only named two examples but there are plenty more. And they’re all younger than me. I truly do hope it’s just a phase.

This goes without saying, that in real life, I really did have an experience with a girl I was pursuing who was remarkably like Aly. The girl I was pursuing was all about “having fun.” And so am I, but I prioritize my work and business over that so called “fun”. She lives her life in a bubble that she calls happiness. Who am I to be the one to burst that bubble, right? But she told me that one of her favorite movies is “The Matrix”.

Heh…I really want to tell her… “I’m the red pill. Come and take me whenever you’re ready to wake up.”   I’d tell her this affectionately…of course…