"and fools despise Pokemon GO" (Proverbs 151:7)

Part of me feels that this fundamental idea deserves its own blog post ... but this real-world example was just too good to pass up. 

"and fools despise Pokemon GO" (Proverbs 151:7)

According to an article in the NY Post, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton thinks that the recent Pokémon Go trend "is one of the stupidest ones I've seen." 

The top cop went on a rant about the dangers of the scavenger hunt-style game, which uses a cellphone’s camera and GPS functions to virtually populate real-world locations with cartoon creatures. The app, Bratton said, has turned millennials into “walking zombies” as they follow the game’s directive to “catch ’em all.”

"Okay," I thought to myself, "I can understand where this officer is coming from. He believes that Pokémon Go poses a threat to public safety because of how distracted people are when they play. That seems reasonable enough."

But then the article went on to quote the Commissioner as saying one of the most idiotic things that he could have possibly said:

“I don’t understand it, and I don’t intend to understand it,” he said. “It’s of no appeal to me, and at the same time, people are putting themselves at great risk.”

I laughed out loud in disbelief when I read this statement. Really? REALLY?! I get it that he has no personal interest in playing the game, but as someone who is trying to solve a problem, does he really think that refusing to understand the appeal of the game will help him achieve his goal? 

Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese general, taught: 

If you know the enemy and know yourself, 

you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 

If you know yourself but not the enemy, 

for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. 

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, 

you will succumb in every battle.

It just boggles my mind. What kind of problem-solver refuses to understand the problem he is trying to solve? What would happen if the police had this mentality about other societal ills, such as drug addiction, gang violence, and sex trafficking? Would this Commissioner display the same attitude towards the recent "craze" of texting and driving, or identity theft, or other new phenomena? If this rash of cop-killing continues, would he say, "I don't understand it, and I don't intend to understand it"? 

Officer Bratton's obstinate stance reminded me of two statements in Sefer Mishlei (The Book of Proverbs): 

יִרְאַת ה' רֵאשִׁית דָּעַת חָכְמָה וּמוּסָר אֱוִילִים בָּזוּ:

"Fear of Hashem is the beginning of knowledge, but eveelim (fools) deride wisdom and discipline" (Mishlei 1:7)

עַד מָתַי פְּתָיִם תְּאֵהֲבוּ פֶתִי וְלֵצִים לָצוֹן חָמְדוּ לָהֶם וּכְסִילִים יִשְׂנְאוּ דָעַת:

"How long, O simpletons, will you love folly, and scoffers covet mockery for themselves, and ksilim (fools) hate knowledge?" (ibid. 1:22)

Shlomo ha'Melech (King Solomon) identifies two types of fools in these verses: eveelim and ksilim. He says that the eveelim deride wisdom and discipline, whereas the ksilim hate knowledge. The questions are: (1) What is the difference between these two foolish attitudes? (2) Which type of foolishness is reflected in Officer Bratton's statement?

I brought this question up to my Mishlei rebbi this morning, and he answered me based on his current understanding of these two types of fools. I will do my best to summarize his answer, but I won't speculate about how he arrived at this answer (since he was responding on the basis of his Mishleic intuition that has been formed by years of learning hundreds of pesukim). 

He explained that the eveel is someone who looks at reality superficially. He assumes that his first impressions are correct, and that there is no need to look beneath the surface, or at the big picture, or at the long-term consequences. He acts on impulse, seeking immediate pleasure and the avoidance of immediate pain. 

Although the eveel is foolish, he is not stupid. He has enough life experience to realize that there is more depth to reality than he is willing to see. And yet, he can't bring himself to face that reality - whether out of laziness, or fear, or attachment to his present way of thinking, or what have you. Whatever the reason may be, he does not want to face reality because of the implications of doing so. But in order to justify his avoidance of reality, he must mock and disparage those who involve themselves is seeking knowledge of reality - otherwise, they would be too consumed with self-loathing on account of the anti-reality lifestyle he has chosen. 

The ksil has a different problem. He relates to reality as an authority figure who is trying to control him, and he relates to knowledge like the words of a stern parent disciplining a child. [1] This is the root of his hatred of knowledge. Every gain in knowledge poses a threat to his ego. In order to preserve his sense of self, he must utterly reject the pursuit of knowledge with vehemence. 

Based on this distinction, my Mishlei rebbi maintained that Officer Bratton's attitude corresponded to that of the eveel. For whatever reason, he just doesn't want to face the reality of the Pokémon Go trend. Not only does he refuse to understand it, but he even goes so far as to mock it, as another news article reported:

[the] constant peering down at their devices as they go walking around looking for - I guess it's Pokémon they're looking for, that's something like the Tooth Fairy, I guess - they're putting themselves at risk of accidents

His refusal to understand, his superficial assessment of the phenomenon, and his cheap and derisive comment about "looking for the Tooth Fairy" are all symptomatic of the mentality of the eveel. 

To be clear: I'm not saying that Officer Bratton is an eveel in all respects. Mishlei speaks in generalities and archetypes which rarely correspond 100% with any individuals in the real world. Still, the foolishness of his statement stands as a stunning example of the eveel's attitude towards those aspects of reality which he does not wish to face. 

So for those Pokémon Go players out there: may you succeed in catching Eevees, without encountering any eveels. (I'm sorry!!!)


[1] I'm aware that my Mishlei rebbi's explanation of the ksil sounds more like my explanation of the eveel. I guess I'll just have to learn more Mishlei to see whose explanation makes more sense to me!