Are we too ignorant to recognize our own ignorance?

Are we too ignorant to recognize our own ignorance? There are some authors who argue that we are quite ignorant about ourselves. But, in particular, we know very little about our mind and, above all, we have little control over it. In reality, there are still people out there who think that the world has not changed – at least in some aspects – and that those who exercise functions of power in it cannot afford to, with their conduct or omission, streamline facts and ideas contrary to the values of that new world. And it is not too much to ask for there to be no nonsense, no manifestations of superiority, whatever they may be, or as someone would say when quoting Cervantes: “Envy always sees everything with magnifying glasses that transform small things into great things, dwarfs into giants, signs in certainties.” The universe, we know, is governed by the law of least effort, energy saving. No one escapes this. But our intelligence has to be able to go further and, learning from history, prevent problems to build a better future... That's why so many of us didn't vote, didn't participate, didn't say, didn't think... , because you get tired of meeting, because you get tired of discussing, because you get tired of organizing, because you even get tired of going to vote! But, as George Bernard Shaw said: “Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance…..is that freedom means responsibility. That’s why so many people are afraid of it.” We have to recognize that, in general, we lack a collective, civic, participatory and entrepreneurial spirit. How many of us have founded associations or companies? How many of us were interested in urban and environmental issues? How many of us intervened at the party level? How many of us fight at work or for consumer rights? How many discuss politics? Many of us do not even vote, for the Assembly of the Republic, for the Municipal Chambers, in referendums or for the European parliament (using the easy and weak speech that politicians are all the same...). “We are the ones who have to save ourselves, and that is only possible with an attitude of ethical citizenship, even though this may sound old and anachronistic.” ( José Saramago) The majority of citizens, in general the new generations, are entertained at summer festivals, in bars and clubs (where music, drugs and alcohol occupy the place of thought), in unbridled consumption in shopping centers (of the latest generation gadgets to the latest fashion in clothing and accessories) and glued to the internet, consoles or computers looking at stupid videos or stupid games... The truth is that we have to give much more of ourselves, we have to be more demanding with our citizenship and not limit ourselves to complaining about each other or especially about “politicians”, as if we had nothing to do with all this!!! “Modern citizenship is a set of rights and obligations comprising three groups: civil rights, political rights and social rights” (T. H. Marshall) After all, what is the use of having much more training and information than the generations that preceded us? The additional tools we acquire must serve us to be more capable of intervening in society at all levels (economic, social, political and cultural). We have to be more capable of thinking for ourselves, finding new social balances and proposing creative, innovative and effective solutions! The future of Portugal depends on us, on our capacity for creation, innovation and intervention. Ultimately, the real alternative is us! Let's do it then! Or as a friend of mine would say, quoting Millôr Fernandes: “Any idiot can be young. It takes a lot of talent to know how to age.”