I define ignorance as the absence of information. While there are certain pejorative uses of the word and it is often used as a bludgeon by politically-motivated intellectual elitists to attack those with whom they disagree, I don't see being ignorant as always being a bad thing.

Let's think about this. Consider for a moment that there are 6.6 billion (that's with a "b") people on Earth, each with different life experiences and ideas about life. Consider also that our planet is not the only one in our solar system and our solar system is not the only one in the universe. One could argue that there are an unknown number of other solar systems and life forms out there.

So, if there are that many variables, how can one person or one belief system or one political party say with a straight face that he or she or it has a monopoly on the truth and that there's only one right answer to every question?

Many learned men and women have come to the conclusion that the more they know the more they realize they don't know. So, when you are having a discussion with someone and the other person attempts to label you with "ignorant" for not agreeing with them, you can calmly rejoinder that the other person doesn't know everything either and, by that person's definition, he or she must be ignorant as well.

The reason I feel this way, at least in part, is because I believe that each of us no matter how intelligent or educated we think we are can learn something from another person. It's called respect and there is precious little of it in the world today. You may know something that I don't but that doesn't make you better than me.