"It is
difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon
his not understanding it!"
While true up
to a point, this seems both incomplete and partly off the mark.
In some cases
there is a lot more than a salary at stake, and it may be less a matter of a
man’s not understanding something than of his understanding it only too well
but refusing to accept it or admit that he knows it.
If someone did
accept or admit that they know and understand an inconvenient truth, they might
be expected or forced to do something about it. This might entail taking a
stand; it might mean the loss of their existing role and plan of action; it
might mean the loss of acceptance, credibility, any chance of promotion and
even their professional reputation.
Ignorance
really is bliss in many cases.
