Scourge of Omniscience

Omniscience, once reckoned an attribute of the Almighty only, has now become proletarian, especially in the digital age. Proliferation of social media platforms have made it evident that most people believe they have that quality, as they hold forth on every subject under the sun, irrespective of whether they are qualified to do so or not. It is no wonder that most of the time they are talking through their hat. Even more wondrous is the fact that instead of just ignoring them as beneath one's notice, others, probably because they have nothing better to do, answer them, making way for a full fledged conflagration out of what should be a storm in a teacup at best.

It makes one wonder people do not appropriate another Divine attribute, Omnipotence to themselves. Certainly they might have, but for the fact that, if they were to exercise it, others equally egoistic, would retaliate, & bring them down ignominiously to earth in no time!

The root cause of this may be another offshoot of the digital age, namely the decline of the reading habit. One has to mandatorily read to acquire knowledge. People are not plants to absorb knowledge through Osmosis from the surroundings. Assumption of knowledge & acquisition of knowledge are two entirely different things, the latter demanding many years of focussed, disciplined effort.

The biggest culprits in this democratic age are the politicians who, little educated & less cultured, attaining their office through the vagaries of the ballot box, go on a taxpayer subsidised ego trip, pontificating on all & sundry to their sycophantic and paid followers.