Persuasion requires ignorance

In Aristotle's 'Rhetoric' he describes the levels of persuasion, from opinion to belief to knowledge to authority. Opinion is the weakest and most common, easily open to persuasion and Authority is the strongest and most able to persuade others. I believe I am an authority on philosophy, I try to read all the different schools and all the different process' and arguments. There is very little I can be persuaded about, my beliefs are justified and my arguments are well rounded. In a way I feel solid in my knowledge and full in my beliefs. Whether or not I am an authority depends on how many people would follow and believe my theories, that I just can't predict. Once when I was in hospital with delusions and hallucinations I put forward a theory, in writing, that psychosis is just a shift of authority. That mental illness is the rejection of common authority and an attempt to create a new authority, that is certainly how I see my own problems.

But what I want to know is why isn't this subject taught in schools, imagine if every child was taught the difference between opinion and knowledge. So that every student leaves school knowing what they know, how they know and why they know. We are taught knowledge at school and we are taught about figures of authority, like Newton in physics, Lenin in history and Jesus in R.E. But many children leave school without knowledge and with a mind swimming with opinions, with nothing to attach them to and to start climbing the ladder of persuasion. Only those with a motivation to become authorities follow education to it's final destination. My tutor at university said I was too much of a maverick to do a masters and that I should look to self publish my philosophy if I wanted to continue. I left feeling rejected, but my resolve to write my own philosophy was stronger, he knew I had something to say and that maybe it would turn out popular.

The obvious place to look at is politics, the media are great at drumming up support for people and parties that don't represent the common good. And people follow this advice because they don't have the knowledge to questions the viability of what decision to make, they are persuaded by the newspapers. I'm a socialist, maybe it was passed down from my parents, but I am able to approach politics from a knowledge of why and how society functions. I believe that with the right people in power and the right direction of finances, society could be a far greater good for a far greater number. The power I refer to, is what I would call 'compassionate power', a morality based on always helping the less fortunate, those with abilities use them only to encourage and support the less able. That is my political authority and no amount of capitalism propaganda could shake the knowledge of a better way.