Important: This is a personal essay about the choice of intentional illiteracy and chosen ignorance. I have included relevant quotes and sayings below the text. You can skip directly to that section if you prefer to avoid a long read.

The tragedy of the unlearned

“Illiteracy is the common tragedy of the young, but after certain things happen, it becomes a chosen one.”  — Sadia Hakim ©️

In the beginning, we are all blind. We walk into the world with empty hands and open eyes, unable to read the warnings written on the walls. That is the misfortune of youth. It is a period of grace where our mistakes are forgiven because we simply did not know any better. We were illiterate by circumstance, not by intent. We had not yet lived through the “certain things” that define a life.

But then, certain experiences are lived. Certain years pass. We learn how to read the world, and we find that the story is often a cruel one. It is at this moment that a person makes a decision. Some of us choose to keep reading, to keep learning, and to accept the weight of the truth. But others decide that the weight is too much. They choose to become illiterate again. They pull the veil over their eyes and claim they cannot see the very things they spent decades learning to identify.

This “chosen illiteracy” is the ultimate act of cowardice disguised as a lifestyle. It is no longer an accident. The fool takes the common tragedy of the young and cultivates it into a chosen veil.

“People and their rancid mindsets offend me. The squalid state of their logic disgusts me.”

There is a particular kind of nausea that arises when you encounter a mind that is perfectly comfortable in its own filth. We are taught that ignorance is a lack of light, a cold room waiting for a candle. But in reality, some people cultivate their ignorance until it becomes a thick, protective skin. Their logic is not just flawed. It is rancid. It is a logic that has sat too long in the sun of their own ego until it has curdled into something unrecognizable.

I find myself breathless at the sheer nerve required to navigate the world with such a hollow toolkit. They speak with a volume that suggests a deep well of knowledge, yet when you look down, you see only a dry, cracked floor. This is not the accidental ignorance of a child. This is a fortress built out of a refusal to see. It is the audacity of someone who believes their narrow window is the entire horizon. I am often shocked at the audacity that comes with being this stupid and illiterate.

The vravery of the blind

“The stupid are the most courageous.”

We often mistake a lack of fear for a presence of character. We see someone jumping into a fray without a second thought and we call them brave. But often, that bravery is simply the result of an illiterate imagination. They do not know how many ways they can break. They have not read the history of the ground they stand on, so they do not feel it shifting beneath their feet.

As the years pass, I realize that my own hesitation is a symptom of my literacy. I can read the signs of a coming storm. I can see the cracks in the foundation of a “sure thing.” While I am standing still, paralyzed by the data of potential disaster, the “courageous” fool has already crossed the finish line. There is a terrifying beauty in that. It is a raw, kinetic energy that requires no fuel other than a complete lack of awareness. I don’t think all fools are stupid, but I do think the stupid are the only ones left with the nerve to act without doubt.

The creative parasite

“My understanding is too vast, quite for the audacity of the simple mindset. Hate stupidity. Hate people.”

There is a specific irritation that comes when you realize your own depth is being measured by someone who has never left the shore. When you possess a mind that sees the intricate layers of a situation, dealing with “the simple” feels like a physical weight. It is not just a difference of opinion. It is an allergic reaction to a lack of curiosity. These simple mindsets are often parasitic. They take the complex world you have worked to understand and they flatten it into a slogan or a loud, empty opinion.

I find that I have developed a genuine disdain for this shortcut to existing. To hate stupidity is not to hate the person who cannot learn, but to hate the person who refuses to. It is an offense to the very concept of the human intellect. When someone moves through the world with that kind of “rancid” simplicity, they are essentially taking up space that could be used for something far more beautiful and thoughtful. I often shudder at the audacity that comes with being this stupid and illiterate.

Rattling of the empty tin

“It is the sheer nerve of the uneducated that leaves me breathless.”

To stand in the middle of a complex world and offer simple, aggressive answers is a feat of mental gymnastics I cannot perform. It takes a certain kind of muscle to push away the nuance, the doubt, and the context that knowledge provides. To feel some people speak is to listen to the rattling of an empty tin. In a world of delicate whispers, it is within a base mind to cry out of the agony for a quadrant of the grotesque.

When I see these people, I feel a strange mixture of disgust and fascination. They move through life with a speed that I will never know, unburdened by the friction of a thinking mind. They are the masters of the shallow water, convinced they are in the deep end. And while I am left breathless by their nerve, I realize that I would rather be gasping for air in the truth than breathing easily in a lie.

The choice we make

“Seeing some people, I know ignorance is a choice rather than a misfortune for them.”

We live in an age where information is a flood, yet many choose to stay bone dry. We must recognize that the “stupidity” we encounter is often a defense mechanism. It is a shield against the complexity of modern existence. To be literate is to be vulnerable. To know the truth is to be responsible for it.

I often check on the audacity that comes with being this stupid and illiterate. I look at it from a distance, like a scientist watching a dangerous reaction. I see the “sheer nerve” it takes to live without reflection. While I struggle with the “vastness” of my own understanding, I realize that the world belongs to those who move. If the “stupid” are the only ones with the courage to act, then perhaps the tragedy is not their ignorance, but our own paralysis. We must find a way to be both literate and courageous, to see the world as it is and still have the “nerve” to exist within it.

Sadia Hakim ©️

12 Sayings on the topic of chosen illiteracy by Sadia Hakim

“After certain things happen, and certain experiences are lived, and certain years pass, illiteracy becomes a choice rather than a misfortune that initially happens to just anyone alive on this planet.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“Illiteracy is the common tragedy of the young but after certain things happen, it becomes a chosen rot.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“Seeing some people, I know that their lack of light is no longer an accident. They have taken the common tragedy of the young and cultivated it into a chosen rot, staring back at the world with a terrifying certainty. I can’t even tell how putrid, fetid, pathetic it is!”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“I hate the sleazy audacity of the uneducated. People and their rancid mindsets offend me. The squalid state of their logic disgusts me. The contempt I have for the stupidly naive can’t be poeticized. The abhorrence I carry for the way they celebrate their decay while pointing fingers at others can’t be grieved enough.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“The stupid are the most courageous.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“I don’t think all fools are stupid.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“I am often shocked at the audacity that comes with being this stupid and illiterate.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“To hear some people speak is to listen to the rattling of an empty tin. To witness deliberate illiteracy is to watch a slow-motion car crash of the mind. It is a spectacle of the grotesque. I find myself trapped in an awe of the absurd, staring at the disgusting rot of their logic. I am choked by the realization that their ignorance is not a lack of light, but a deliberate, aggressive darkness they enjoy. I hate, hate, hate it. Seeing some people, I know ignorance is a choice rather than a misfortune for them.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“After certain experiences are lived, illiteracy is no longer a tragedy. It is a chosen rot, a comfort found in the dark, and I find it utterly repulsive. I find it disgustingly pathetic.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“It is the sheer nerve of the uneducated that leaves me breathless. There is a terrifying kind of bravery in such stupidity.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“My private shame is how much I loathe the audacity of the simple-minded. I hate stupidly naive people.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

“I am often shocked at the audacity that comes with being this stupid and illiterate. It isn’t just the lack of knowledge that bothers me. It is the audacity that accompanies this level of ignorance. People speak with a terrifying certainty, a boldness that only those who know nothing can truly possess.”
— Sadia Hakim ©️

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