That brings me to the second element of imbecility, which is folly. An imbecile is a fool, but a fool is a word that means a specific thing. A person so badly deluded that they confuse their ignorance for wisdom. It’s one thing to be ignorant, and know it — very good, then it can be remedied. It’s another thing still to be ignorant and flaunt it — at least there is still a distinction between folly and intelligence, wisdom, truth, meaning. But it’s something else, and a very funny, dangerous, and tragic thing to be ignorant — and call it wisdom.