"The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand"

Cesare Lombroso’s observation that the ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand reflects both a psychological tendency in human nature and a social commentary on ignorance. When people lack knowledge or insight into a particular subject, they often respond not with critical inquiry or skepticism, but with awe, reverence, or even blind adulation. What cannot be comprehended seems mysterious, powerful, and elevated, leading those who do not understand to place it on a pedestal. This dynamic is evident across various domains, religion, science, art, and social hierarchies.

Historically, masses have venerated individuals or phenomena precisely because their workings remain opaque or inaccessible. The workings of the natural world, for example, were often wrapped in myth and spirit, with thunderstorms cast as the judgment of gods or diseases as the curse of supernatural powers. When scientific understanding was missing, reverence became the default attitude. Similarly, in the arts and sciences, great thinkers, artists, or even political leaders have been idolized, not necessarily for their substance, but because their talents were misunderstood, mystified, or perceived as unattainable. Ignorance here breeds not humility but an uncritical idolization.

Modern examples abound: technological innovations treated with reverence by those unfamiliar with their design, celebrities venerated by fans who only see the surface. The inability to grasp complexities or foundational principles leads people to imbue these subjects or individuals with qualities of greatness or even divinity, often without justification. Instead of curiosity or the desire to learn, there is surrender: “If I cannot understand it, it must be greater than me, worthy only of admiration, not scrutiny.”

Lombroso’s assertion warns against this tendency. It challenges society to substitute admiration born of ignorance with informed understanding, encouraging curiosity, critical thought, and skepticism as antidotes to blind reverence. Publi