Briefly: Knowledge is worthless if those who need it can’t hear

I often feel like Professor Faber from Ray Bradbury’s brilliant novel “Fahrenheit 451.” He understood what had happened to his society and culture. He understood the intellectual and psychological way out of the mess, but he lived alone and watched in fear and despair as his society kept sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss. He saw and understood what many others needed to know, but he had no way of communicating the message to them — because he couldn’t compete with the shallow entertainment which had buried serious thought by those such as him. That doesn’t mean I have all the answers, any more than a scared and despairing Faber did. It just means I know how people could choose to dig themselves out of the shallow and emotionally empty world they’ve created for themselves. But they’re too busy laughing at the White Clown to pay attention. (Please read the book and think about it. The book isn’t about censorship, despite what your English teacher might have once told you. It’s about modern life and your choices.)