There’s an old saying that goes something like this: Never wrestle with a pig. You both get muddy, and the pig is the only one who enjoys it.

I’m starting to think that perfectly describes about 90% of political arguments these days.

I’m genuinely exhausted trying to have intelligent conversations with people who seem utterly incapable of understanding the subject they’re so passionately arguing about. And while I personally seem to encounter this more frequently on the political left, let’s not pretend the right doesn’t have its fair share of idiots, either. Stupidity is remarkably bipartisan.

But here’s something I think we need to establish right up front.

It’s perfectly okay to be ignorant.

Hell, I’m ignorant about all manner of things. There are entire fields of science, medicine, economics, engineering, and philosophy where I barely know enough to ask an intelligent question. And that’s fine. Ignorance simply means you don’t know something. Nobody knows everything, and anybody who thinks they do has already demonstrated at least one subject they’re spectacularly ignorant about.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know.”

In fact, I’d argue those might be three of the most intelligent words a person can utter.

The problem isn’t ignorance. The problem is righteous ignorance.

It’s the person who doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about, has absolutely no interest in learning, and somehow possesses the confidence of a Nobel Prize winner delivering his acceptance speech.

They haven’t read the legislation they’re screaming about. They don’t understand the economics behind the policy they’re defending. They couldn’t explain the opposing argument if their life depended on it. But by God, they KNOW they’re right.

And if you disagree? Well, clearly you’re a racist, a fascist, a communist, a Nazi, or whatever other convenient label allows them to dismiss you without actually having to engage their brain.

How the hell do you have a conversation with somebody like that?

You don’t.

And that’s what I’ve increasingly come to realize.

You cannot reason someone out of a position they never reasoned themselves into.

Now, that’s not universally true. People can change their minds. I’ve changed mine plenty of times when presented with better information. That’s called learning. It’s supposed to be a good thing.

But learning requires something that seems to be in increasingly short supply: intellectual humility. The willingness to entertain the possibility that you might actually be wrong.

Instead, we’ve created a culture where admitting you’re wrong is treated like defeat, changing your mind is considered weakness, and being the loudest asshole in the conversation somehow qualifies as winning the argument.

Social media has poured gasoline on this particular dumpster fire. We reward outrage, amplify certainty, and encourage people to surround themselves with others who already agree with them. Why bother questioning your beliefs when you’ve got 10,000 strangers telling you how brilliant you are?

And here’s the truly maddening part.

You can spend an hour researching a subject, reading original sources, examining competing arguments, and trying to understand the nuances. Then somebody comes along who’s watched a 30-second TikTok, confidently announces you’re wrong, and expects you to treat their opinion as equally informed.

I’m sorry, but no.

Everybody is entitled to an opinion. That doesn’t mean every opinion deserves equal respect.

And before somebody gets offended, that applies to MY opinions, too. If I’m talking out of my ass, show me. Give me the evidence. Explain what I’m missing. I’ll listen.

What I won’t do is pretend that your unwillingness to learn is somehow equivalent to knowledge.

There’s a difference between disagreeing with somebody and being incapable of understanding their argument. There’s a difference between questioning evidence and simply refusing to acknowledge it. And there’s a tremendous difference between being ignorant and being proudly, aggressively, righteously ignorant.

That’s where we’ve gone wrong.

We seem to have confused respecting people with respecting every ridiculous thing that comes out of their mouths. You can respect somebody’s right to speak without pretending what they’re saying makes a damn bit of sense.

And frankly, I think we need to get comfortable saying that again.

Not every argument deserves a rebuttal. Not every opinion deserves a debate. And not every idiot deserves an hour of your afternoon.

Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is recognize that you’re wrestling with a pig, climb out of the mud, and go do something productive with your life.

Because at the end of the day, I don’t expect everybody to be intelligent. I don’t expect everybody to be educated. And I certainly don’t expect everybody to agree with me.

But I do expect people to recognize that there’s a difference between what they know and what they merely believe.

It’s okay to be ignorant. We all are.

But being righteously ignorant? That’s just stupid.