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Ignorance Of Ignorance


FADE IN.

INT. CLUBHOUSE - DAY

Reading a newspaper, PETER raises an eye brow.

PETER (V.O.) That US Senator believed

there wasn't any violence

in Hong Kong for the past

several months?

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd)

That became his proposition.

How can he and others

believe a proposition when

there's no ground whatever

for supposing it true?

FLASHBACK

INT. STUDY - NIGHT

Peter studies a thick file.

PETER (V.O.)

The accused in this case

was caught in the act by

a computerized camera.

To prove that the accused

is responsible for the act

can be complicated though.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

First, there's the need to

prove the reliability and

accuracy of the hardware

and the software.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Second, there's the need to

prove the images haven't

been tampered with by

anyone.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Third, there's the need

to prove how the images

depicting the act was done

by the accused.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

And assuming all these

are proven, the accused

can still explain away

his guilty mind by raising

a reasonable doubt in

his favour.

Peter sighs.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

So cumbersome... But

this's the way how the

criminal trial process

arrives at the probable

truth.

INT. COURT - DAY

Coming out from a court room, Peter looks pleased.

PETER (V.O.)

The court has accepted

that the chain of evidence

hasn't been broken. I've

also persuaded the court

the accused's defence

can't stand.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

As always, I was over-

prepared. But what I

do is important as justice

is at stake.

RETURN TO PRESENT

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Politics is very different.

People in politics appeal

to people's emotions

rather than truth. They

act like actors and they

lie like devils. I witnessed

some of them.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

When I first studied

Philosophy in the 1970s,

people thought I was

wasting my time, learning

something unnecessary.

Pausing.

PETER

The core subjects of

Philosophy raise the

level of explanation.

Logic distinguishes

reasoning fallacies.

Epistemology explains

what is knowledge.

Ethics discusses good

and evil. Jurisprudence

tells right from wrong.

Political philosophy

investigates systems.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

I've been putting what

I learned in Philosophy

to good practical use.

Kowledge is good,

ignorance is bad.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

That US Senator's

remarks sound absurd.

But he's not alone.

Ignorance of ignorance

generates evil.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Can they find meaning

in life when they neither

reason nor seek truth

at all?

FADE OUT. THE END

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