Prof. Dr. Uzbay: “America's motto is to manage ignorance!”

Within the scope of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine interviews, the “Science of Ignorance” event was held. Üsküdar University Rector's Advisor, Head of the Internal Medicine Department of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, attended the event as a speaker. Uzbay, stating that America's motto is to manage the ignorant, said, “If you cannot establish an education system and remain ignorant, you are unfortunately governed by those who use knowledge.”

“Two words representing darkness and enlightenment”

 Uzbay, touching upon the concept of the science of ignorance at the event that attracted the attention of medical students, said; “Ignorance is about not knowing something. Science represents enlightenment. The Science of Ignorance consists of two words, one representing darkness and the other enlightenment. Our brain is an extremely valuable organ. Information coming from outside is first processed by our brain. Many stimuli come to us from outside throughout the day. These stimuli attract our attention and we filter them. What we learn comes to memory, and as soon as it comes to our memory, we acquire knowledge. Knowledge is a very valuable element required for us to survive and adapt to external conditions. But here I am talking about true knowledge. If you make a mistake in information coding, if you perceive wrong information as correct information, or if you try to possess erroneous information, your probability of survival decreases, and your adaptation to the environment will not be very good.” He said.

America’s motto is to manage ignorance!

Uzbay, referring to a quote by James Madison; “The US learns a lesson from the North-South war and becomes a united state. After becoming a united state, the 4^th President of the US, James Madison, puts forth an important vision. ‘Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.’ So today, countries on earth, if they can produce knowledge, if they can possess knowledge, if they can use knowledge correctly, they can be independent and govern themselves. If you consider this knowledge flawed, then you will be on the governed side, on the ignorant side. After the collapse of the USSR, we evolved into a world where the United States was a superpower. Only America dominates the world. America’s motto is to manage ignorance. In other words, if you cannot establish an education system and remain ignorant, you are unfortunately governed by those who use knowledge.” He used the expressions.

“Post Truth is a movement that starts with manipulating our lives”

Continuing his words, Uzbay spoke about the concept of Post Truth; “In 2016, it entered the Oxford dictionary as the word of the year. Post Truth means expressions detached from reality. In other words, a lie. You try to convince others by lying about something you know to be true in a different way, to manage their perception. It is a movement that begins with manipulating our lives socially and politically through social media and the internet. It is the art of detached perception or managing perception by detaching it from reality. You govern masses by making them believe in the realities you desire. In Germany, Hitler did this very well. The Economist magazine came out with the title ‘Art of the Lie’. That is, the art of lying. Presenting a lie as an art, convincing with lies. Trump applied this in his previous election campaign and resorted to the same methods when he lost the election. But the American system did not allow it. The incoming president also used post-truth rhetoric, but I haven't seen anyone like Trump.” He said.

They embed wrong information into correct information and impose it!

Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay stated that people are deceived by adding correct information into wrong information through the science of ignorance. Uzbay; “The science of ignorance generalizes information that is correct for a certain audience but could create risks for some segments. For example, there is no relationship between salt and blood pressure. Yes, this is valid for people who are not sensitive to salt. However, it is invalid information for those who are sensitive to salt. If you generalize this, some people will believe what they want to hear from it and be harmed. In other words, they embed wrong information into correct information and impose it. They present some claims and theses, which were discussed on certain platforms in the past but have completely lost their validity today, as if they were definitively proven information. They reach definitively proven conclusions based on just one article or data published by an important scientist in an important journal. Using their fame, they present completely false and untrue information as if it were scientific knowledge. Especially for those with millions of followers on social media, a serious problem arises in managing their own ego. Famous people need to hire psychologists or even take lessons to manage their egos. They are not even aware of how what comes out of their mouths will affect society. They can cause negativity by using their fame.” he said.