The Joys of Willful Ignorance

Data from The New York Times:

6
Number of times Apollo astronauts landed on the moon, starting 40 years ago this month.

6
Percent of Americans surveyed who believe no one ever set foot on the moon; it was all a hoax.

Harrison Schmitt, the pilot of the lunar lander during the last Apollo mission, suggests that the nonbelievers demonstrate the failure of American schools. But another comment from Schmitt seems closer to the mark: “If people decide they’re going to deny the facts of history and the facts of science and technology, there’s not much you can do with them.”

Some people feel the modern world is spinning too fast; they want to get off. Fear of the unknown leads to willful ignorance. That's why some of us won't open our credit card bills or our 401(k) statements.

Personally, I choose to believe that CDO's and credit-default swaps never existed. (Come on, now, is it plausible that adult men and women would have fallen for that stuff?)