It's everywhere! Why are people happier in their on secluded worlds, lying to themselves and putting others down for a belief that they might have? Why are wars started over religion when no one knows the truth? Why are children beat up for being different? ... Why is ignorance such sweet bliss to humanity and yet, at the same time, destroying us?
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Ignorance is not blissNot knowing is bliss. Ignorance is thinking that one knows something without studying it. Ignorance is what destroys the world.20% Voted for by Brew Kline, dollar, ExpensiveThinker.
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BecauseNothing can be known, so deluding oneself to the unknowable produces comfort in the conviction of what one thinks is true, and what one's mind wishes to manifest to maintain such a state.Voted for by TeChNoWC.
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Ignorance of ignoranceIgnorance is bliss as long as long as you dont suspect you may be ignorant.Voted for by el.numbre.
e.g. if a partner cheats on you, being ignorant - it may as well not have happened because you know nothing and suspect nothing and therefore things would remain the same between you [at least in your mind]. if you think, I might be ignorant as I wouldn't know if she/he kissed them or not - then its hell. Its better to know nothing than suspect something and its better to know than to suspect the worst.. -
hindsight is 20/20I really enjoy reading all of these opinions and I wanted to submit mine with all due humbleness. Firstly I want to say that my favorite comment on the subject at hand posted above was by ~genie~ wherein they said that "I think it is the duty of those who who are understanding of themselves to be understanding to others as well." Everyone I think probably lives with more ignorance than can be recognized because unless you are omnipotent you cant know everything, and even if you are an expert on a particular matter you may only know 99% of what is to be known on that matter so unless you have some sort of divine knowledge of the true facts almost everything has to dwell in a sort of gray area of speculation, thus we all have to choose which facts to accept to have some sort of basis even on which one can begin to sort out that which can be considered ignorance. err...yeaVoted for by TiredofRegistering.
I find that when you recognize that you are ignorant (ignorance does have more than one definition) about a matter that is to say that you are not yet informed about the matter enough that you have a prepared "set", opinion, side, you will choose what you feel to be a safe and to you maybe most obvious opinion and leave it at that or say that you have no opinion and will give your side pursuant to reviewing the facts.
I find that I am someone who frequently likes to investigates matters in which I find myself to be underinformed and therefore you may consider me to be less ignorant than some who choose primarily not to take such ventures of exploration. However I generally find that when I do indulge in these quests for truth as some might call them often times indeed as was previously mentioned sometimes the conclusions that I come to are adverse to the ones which I had previously established in my mind and had become comfortable with leading me in hindsight to come to the opinion that often times ignorance is bliss because perhaps I was more comfortable with the view that I had previously held in ignorance. Proceeding from that stand point one must make the decision in the future to remain ignorant on matters in which they are comfortable or to again explore the possibilty that things may not be what they seem and be rendered therefore the less comfortable once again. More often than not though it is human nature to want to explore issues further not only so as to eliminate ignorance for their own self satisfaction, which holds its own rewards and to not remain ignorant in the company of others that they may be able to relate to someone else on some matter. For example you may recognize that I am rather ignorant when it comes to the proper use of punctuation, however I cant stand punctuation and choose to remain ignorant about it, however people would probably find my opinions more intelligible if I were to investigate the matter further so as to properly relate to others my opinions. Other people might remark that I seem to be ignorant about wanting to try some sort of medication that would probably keep me from staying up until all hours posting rather absurd opinions on random topics scattered throughout the internet.
Finally I want to say that the post that made the the happiest was the one that was simply titled HEHE.
I had written all of this and then realized that there was a whole second page of this topic and got to blissfully read over another whole page of opinions which I find the second page is where all the smart opinions are (JK)
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Ignorance is NOT bliss! It only gives the illusion of blissfulness!To touch on what many others have said, it is not blissful to be ignorant because to be ignorant is to be uneducated, and to be uneducated is what I would see to be unhappy (or atleast not as happy as one could potentially be). People strive to obtain knowledge in their lifetime, so why would this be so if knowledge is a negative thing? Knowledge is power and a great 'high' to be able to achieve. Also, how can ignorance be bliss when the ignorant would so choose to not know what makes then NOT blissful? So there is a serious flaw in this statement.Voted for by missykeough.
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The Complete TruthIgnorance is bliss because the mind is a problem solver. If you are not aware of any problems, then you can just plug in your iPod/TV, eat food and go to bed.Voted for by ExpensiveThinker.
But... some really hard problems exist (overpopulation, intolerance, health care,...). Ones that wont easily go away without a lot of minds thinking about them.
If you don't know the problem, it can't bother you (and you can't solve it!).
Also, if you don't fully understand the problem, you can come up with some over-simple solution that really won't work.
What you should do:
apply your beliefs to solve real problems. If they're right, it will work. Otherwise, you'll encounter new problems and learn from your mistakes.
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Wrong idea about ignoranceI understand that the word ignorance is used a lot to describe "being in the dark" but I don't find that this saying is using ignorance in that context. I think the ignorance mentioned in the saying means to not know.Voted for by The Raiden.
Someone brought up intolerance as a result of ignorance. I see it as quite the opposite. Knowing is the reason for intolerance, well, knowing or learning in the wrong way is what leads to it. What we tend to learn about others in our quest for knowledge is the differences between us. Our learning of these differences is what leads to intolerance, NOT our ignorance of others. If we were "ignorant" to the fact there are differences and just saw people for people maybe there would be less intolerance.
In my life ive seen people boasting their knowledge of a person based on sterotypes and preconceptions. They relate learning about people to some kind of scientific analysis. I always react dumbfounded to these traits that are pointed out to me because I simply see people for people and not their race or religion. Thats the ignorance I think is being conveyed in this saying.
Therefore, with this ignorance in mind one can find true bliss in actually getting to know the person instead of knowing them based on preconcieved notions. -
...I don't think its bliss. there is a price to pay for everything sometimes knowledge is painful, and sometimes ignorance is painful. I think as humans we considerate on the negative in life and for get the positive.Voted for by AlisonAcid.
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my untitled opinionIgnorance may be bliss, but once you gain that knowledge, you're that much less ignorant than you were before. Having the linguistic capacity and computer skills necessary to post a blog on the internet discussing whether ignorance is bliss or not demonstrates our own true lack of bliss in the first place. Whether this argument seems plausible or not would depend upon one's definition of "ignorance" and that of "bliss". Our existence in this world is both the cause and effect of time and space. Without the cultures and civilizations containing and defining our existence, it would not be possible to attribute any coherent meaning to this world as there would be no way to communicate this meaning to the others around us. Childhood is a learning process; the process of learning diminishes one's ignorance with every passing second and adds a layer of meaning onto everyone's life. Every society has its shared meaning structures. These structures are socially constructed and, in turn, construct society. Once we have learned to conform to these structures, the only way to make ourselves ignorant again would be to resist, or unlearn them. But even if we do, we must learn to do so first. Now, let's repeat this exercise and define "bliss"... If ignorance is bliss, bliss would entail the loss of all the cognitive mental functions that allow us to know what the meaning of the world around us is. To achieve this state of total unlearning requires that we empty our minds and open our hearts. Easier said than done, especially when writing an internet blog discussing your philosophical standpoint on whether ignorance is bliss or not...Voted for by UrbanWarfare514.
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my untitled opinionIgnorance may be bliss, but once you gain that knowledge, you're that much less ignorant than you were before. Having the linguistic capacity and computer skills necessary to post a blog on the internet discussing whether ignorance is bliss or not demonstrates our own true lack of bliss in the first place. Whether this argument seems plausible or not would depend upon one's definition of "ignorance" and that of "bliss". Our existence in this world is both the cause and effect of time and space. Without the cultures and civilizations containing and defining our existence, it would not be possible to attribute any coherent meaning to this world as there would be no way to communicate this meaning to the others around us. Childhood is a learning process; the process of learning diminishes one's ignorance with every passing second and adds a layer of meaning onto everyone's life. Every society has its shared meaning structures. These structures are socially constructed and, in turn, construct society. Once we have learned to conform to these structures, the only way to make ourselves ignorant again would be to resist, or unlearn them. But even if we do, we must learn to do so first. Now, let's repeat this exercise and define "bliss"... If ignorance is bliss, bliss would entail the loss of all the cognitive mental functions that allow us to know what the meaning of the world around us is. To achieve this state of total unlearning requires that we empty our minds and open our hearts. Easier said than done, especially when writing an internet blog discussing your philosophical standpoint on whether ignorance is bliss or not...Voted for by UrbanWarfare514.
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Yes ignorance can be blissVoted for by nanrek.
Ignorance is bliss when you don't know that all of your friends think you are stupid and ugly!
Ignorance is tragic when you throw away a winning lottery ticket! -
Does ignorance give you true bliss?The simple answer: Ignorance gives a false sense of safety which one can solidify through:Voted for by knconstantinople.
Bliss
1. Extreme happiness; ecstasy.
2. The ecstasy of salvation; spiritual joy.
Is finding bliss in ignorance over compensating or what?!
People enjoy their false securities.
The important surrounding issue:
Traditional happiness is the unknowing acceptance of ignorance.
How can one be truly happy when one subscribes to assumptions or generalizations that align with personal belief or ignorance? (frequently they are one in the same) You cannot. Most (most is pretty generous) are very blind to the greater happiness that is only achieved through true knowledge. Given this, ignorance is an ailment which threatens to rob humanity and individuals of their natural inclination of searching for true knowledge that leads to happiness unparalleled with the bliss associated with ignorance. -
emily33Ignorance isn't necassarily a decision a person makes, everybody is ignorant to something weather it be not understanding why the 2nd Iraq war was started or something as simple as the fact that a tomato is a fruit. Ignorance is all circumstantial and can be due to education, your willingness as a person to seek answers and a persons ability to reason. Just because somebody who is ignorant to alot of the worlds issues, it doesn't mean they are not suseptible to depression- it is often genetic or due to experience. Although an 'ignorant' person doesn't necassarily often consciously think about all aspects of issues and may block out something they see as irrelivant it does not mean that it doesn't register. Who knows what lays at a sub-conscious level and how this plays a role in a persons happiness or not. That said, simplicity is the key to hapiness, weather you are ignorant or not. If you lose your innocence and become aware then you will seek until you reason so much that you come to this page and realise that after all your searching and knowledge that simplicity is bliss. It has been tought to us indirectly- and philosophers well before our time came to this conclusion- Adam and Eve chose to eat the apple of knowledge because the snkae of tempatation came along and therefoer they were forever cast away from the garden of Eden into the 'outside harsh world'. In other words once man obtains knowledge, happiness will go and their search to regain it will begin.Voted for by emily33.
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No correlation"Why is ignorance bliss?" is a loaded question and implies that "ignorance is bliss" is a fact. Ignorance vs searching for better understanding and alternative views of how our minds and other people trick us do not necessarily corralate with hapiness. You can be happy or unhappy just about anything.
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the future has plans for the ignorantthe ignorant and indifferent will be called into action soon enough. comfort is better when released willingly... the world is shifting on conscious axis, better to be aware then caught unawares or too frightened to move.
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October 22, 2007
ExpensiveThinker
October 27, 2007
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I agree that people acquire knowledge primarily to solve problems (and filter the knowledge they consider "useless"), and the problems they consider important you could consider as their "value system".
However, don't a lot of human values overlap -- and cannot we evaluate knowledge as relevant to a universally shared set of values? For example, think about solving problems in digital electronics. While any two people may have wildly different beliefs about the underlying architecture, it takes a rather focused and specialized collection of knowledge to actually make acircuit perform a given task (say, a low-pass filter).
March 15
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