Being uninformed

Most people are uninformed about most things most of the time.
This is a feature, not a bug.

Because there’s a lot of stuff one could possibly know about the world.
And we can’t know it all, and you probably wouldn’t even want to try to know most of the things there are to be known.

For the most part, we can get by just fine with what we do know. For instance, we can…

• visit websites like this one without any knowledge of the hypertext transfer protocol
• safely prepare food without understanding chemistry or bacteria
• buy & sell stuff without being trained in economics or accounting
• drive without knowing much about how cars operate
• live a relatively trouble-free life without being a lawyer

It’s all good! We’re fine, right?

Well, we are until…

• someone asks us to describe how websites work
• someone who has no understanding of chemistry or bacteria opens a restaurant and starts serving unsafe food to others
• someone buys & sells stuff that’s fraudulent or forgets to file any taxes
• someone attempts to repair/maintain their car and something goes wrong, and people die
• someone holds an official title that gives them responsibility to make or interpret or enforce laws that they do not understand

Politicians who have run for office and proven slightly more likable than their competitors (or don’t have any competitors), don’t necessarily know anything that they need to in order to successfully govern in their role. They aren’t bad people, they’re just…uninformed.

It’s not a problem at all.
Until we put them in charge.

Then it’s a real problem for all of us who are impacted by their oversimplified misperceptions and downright wrong-headed approaches to things.

From my reading of history, the best politicians aren’t necessarily always the smartest ones. And they don’t know everything. They just know better than to try, and instead surround themselves with some of the very best & brightest of their generation in the domains that matter to their office. Those generally aren’t the people called “lobbyists” or “academics”, they’re people who are successful because of their expertise. They are people who help the powerful and uninformed become powerfully informed.