Thursday, June 3, 2010

What should we all know anyway?

Recently I got a message on FB from someone I met only one time and for on a brief time (who, by the way, was not my FB friend). The purpose of her message to me was to call me "uneducated". Apparently (although I still can't quite decipher it), what I was uneducated about was some secret code on how you can offer support to an expectant mother who is unable to have the kind of birth she had planned, namely home birth. It appears in these circles of radical home birthing supporters it is offensive to mention the mere possibility of a hospital birth (even if it is certain). Although I didn't actually mention this she implied that is what I meant by saying "a healthy and safe delivery is the most important thing". I will add a disclaimer that not all home birthers are radical, judgemental, superior beings (in their own opinion) but...some are. In all honesty I wasn't bothered by her message. Once I felt the weight of her radical blabber I almost felt sorry for her. But...it did get me thinking about the topic of being uneducated. I have actually heard several references lately of people saying other people are "uneducated" and I couldn't help but wonder about it.
How accurate is it for someone to call someone else uneducated? Couldn't we all call someone uneducated in something, many things for that matter? If I were a Rocket Scientist I could call you all uneducated in my particular field and I would be right. But, why would you want to know about Rocket Science? Rocket Science is quite important but why would everyone need to know about it if they don't want to know about it? I have interests and read up on certain topics. These topics are very important to me but wouldn't I be incredibly delusional to think other people should be educated in the specific things I feel are important? There are some things we should all be "educated" in as a member of society but aside from that I think everyone is quite entitled to know about whatever they choose and not what someone else deems important. I'm all for sharing opinions and putting things out there (I do it all the time on FB) but it's just there if someone finds it worth looking at. There is no expectation that people should agree with me or take on my concerns and causes as their own. Education really doesn't have anything to do with opinions anyway. Just because someone doesn't agree with your opinion doesn't make them uneducated, maybe they just have more interesting things to learn about.

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