I don't know a whole lot but I often find people around me ignorant when it comes to important issues. They may be smart and knowledgeable, but they are narrow, shallow and short-sighted. It all has to do with education: what and how they were taught and told in schools. Schools are the best places to brainwash people from start. Media then reinforces everything they learned in schools. It happens everywhere: US, ROC, PRC, Japan ...