# Is fighting ignorance a futile endeavour?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-a-futile-endeavour/398249>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 1, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-a-futile-endeavour/398249 "2007-04-01T00:07:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-a-futile-endeavour/398249/21 "2007-04-01T12:49:27Z")

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[QUOTE=Q.E.D.]  
So, teachers are useless?  
[/QUOTE]

Teachers can provide information, instruction, guidance and encouragement. If the student is completely, flat-out unwilling, however, then yes, even the best teacher will be useless. A hammer is useful only when it’s in the hand of someone who wants to use it. Otherwise it’s useless, too.

Perhaps what makes a great teacher great is the ability to find what triggers the student to make the teacher useful.

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-a-futile-endeavour/398249/22 "2007-04-01T12:49:50Z")

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The drug war will end before the intelligence war does.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-a-futile-endeavour/398249/23 "2007-04-01T14:23:48Z")

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[QUOTE=Sage Rat]  
The drug war will end before the intelligence war does.  
[/QUOTE]

There is a War against Intelligence? This explains so much that has always been a mystery to me.

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