I DECIDED to write this piece when I came across an article about a river turning into blood somewhere in Nyanga after a boulder fell into it. When posted on Facebook, the article received comments proclaiming disbelief, "chivanhu" and that the biblical end of days was upon us. Only 2 out of about 600 comments, i.e. only 0.3% of this "statistical sample" actually thought there was a logical explanation. Should I assume that the other 99.7% are intellectually challenged? Rio Tinto (or Red River in Spanish) still operates in Zimbabwe. The name is derived from a river in Spain whose reddish colour was caused by iron/ferric oxide (Fe2O3) residues from the mining of copper, silver, gold and other minerals.
The rock which fell into this river somewhere in Nyanga was probably rich in ferric oxide, hence the "river of blood". Logic dictates that a geological survey should be carried out in the surrounding areas to explore for copper, gold, silver or iron ore. Everyone has a right to be stupid but some people just abuse this right. My question is why and when did so many Zimbabweans become so ignorant? We have people who can memorize an entire bible, quote it word for word, yet they cannot use a single brain cell to come up with a logical explanation to anything which falls outside their matchbox of knowledge. Whilst we may have a high literacy rate, I have to question our collective intellect as Zimbabweans. As the saying goes "a nation gets the leadership it deserves", so what kind of leadership do we deserve if we have such limited intellect?
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