If I have done anything to instigate this "drama", I do apologize and please know that it was not my intention to do so. I realize that this post might be considered as "stirring the pot", which again is not my intent, I just want to clarify my stance in order to eradicate the demonization that one person consistently tries to imply upon me because of his own prejudices.

What strikes me as odd, is that some people get so upset over words that are actually not insulting at all but actually are descriptive of what the person does not know. Obviously I am refering to my usage of the word "ignorant". It simply amazes me that some are totally offended by that word. I do understand however that the ego is a fragile thing and that it does not take much to upset a person with an ego, especially people who can't stand to be wrong. Regardless, the word itself is not insulting, it's descriptive of a person that lacks knowledge about specific things.

Anybody that knows me well enough and has spoken to me whether by email or phone can attest that I often use the word "ignorant" towards myself when confronted with issues that I admittedly have no clue about. A couple of weeks ago I was on the phone with a good friend of mine discussing the differences between Codominant and Incomplete Dominant traits when he asked me what I knew about the Spider trait in Ball Pythons, I readily told him that I was completely ignorant of the majority of Ball Python traits including the Spider trait and that I really had nothing to say about it as my realm of knowledge about Ball traits was nil.

There's no shame in admitting ignorance, at least I don't think so. Everybody on this planet is ignorant of something or another. It would seem to me that some people think that ignorance and stupidity mean the same thing and that my usage of the word ignorance translates into me saying that people are stupid. This could not be more wrong as both words have two completely different definitions from each other. It doesn't mean a person is stupid just because they don't know something, stupidity means "a lack of intelligence" which is entirely different than ignorance which means "lack of knowledge". What's funny is that people have no issue with saying "I don't know" which basically equates to saying "I'm ignorant", in both cases you are admitting lack of knowledge. Here's actual definitions for both words, you decide which one is insulting and which one isn't...

Ignorance: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.

Stupid: : slow of mind: lacking intelligence or reason.

Again, I apologize if anybody felt that I was trying to instigite any drama here, that was not my intent.
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Troy Rexroth
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