Narrow-Minded

I have been stranded in this mental desert for longer than I can remember. All around me - dry thoughts and dunes of arid practicality. I crawl on, desperate for sweet inspiration. I see an oasis! It is an optimistic but critical view of teenage cultures. But as I reach for it, the mirage crumbles in front of me. I suddenly remember that I passed that topic a long time ago. Twice. I crawl on. I pray to an unknown god; I pray for inspiration, a measly drop of an idea. As I sink to my knees, my prayers are answered. There, poking out of the bland sand is a note. I unfurl it, noting it has been sent by the mysterious Freya, whoever this deity may be. It reads: 

"hmmmm i 'm not surewhat aboutSHERLOCK BEING POSTPONEDsorry noermnarrow minded people"

The desert collapses beneath me.

Hello, I'm here to talk about narrow-mindedness.Back in the day, I used to watch a cartoon adaptation of Batman for children's TV, cleverly retitled "The Batman". It was an extremely enjoyable programme, and notably dark - I was terrified by even the theme tune (which ended rather abruptly before a sinister voice leered "the BATMAANNNN" in a low and threatening voice). One episode which I do remember quite clearly was when Batman, through a rather lazy leap of science-fiction, was able to venture into the Joker's mind, and undoubtedly kick things.

I spend a worrying amount of time envisaging such mindscapes in my head, and I will use one as a metaphor for narrow-mindedness here. It is said that ignorance is bliss. In a way, I agree with that - there are some people who will quite happily occupy a single room in their mindscapes - happy, safe, and full of interesting and fascinating things to begin with. Once examined, they lose their interest, but still become nice. It is on the whole a very content existence.
We are all in this state at some point in our lives - some stay there till they die. But some of us will one day, by chance, discover a trapdoor beneath the bed. Grasping it, we drop down...into another room. This room is also full of fascinating trinkets and new toys to play with. Once we are done amusing ourselves, we notice that this room has 5 doors, each connecting to a new and unique room. Each of those rooms has 5 more doors.
You see the dilemma here. This is the Explorer's Hydra - by exploring, you merely confirm that there is more to explore. We are quite certain that the building we're in is finite, but we're not sure. At any rate, we can't visit every room. By opening that first door, we allow ourselves to experience more, but allow ourselves to understand that there are rooms out there that we will never see. A bittersweet scenario.
It represents learning. By opening ourselves to more culture and more science and more intrigue, we are also cursed with the knowledge that there's too much of it for us, and that we will never know as much as we want to. Ignorance is bliss, but a shallow bliss. Learning is a deeper gamble. It depends on  your outlook as to whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

I will never understand quarks. I will never truly appreciate the nuances of Marxism. I will never manage to venture beneath the tip of the iceberg as far as Eastern culture is concerned. I will never learn Latin.

I will, as will all of you, be constantly narrow-minded.
It's one of the saddest truths in the universe.