“Ignorance is Bliss.” Really?

We all have heard the term “ignorance is a bliss,” yet perhaps some of us never really dwell to find out the meaning beneath it. It is a common phrase used in English language, to tell people not to worry much about ongoing things in reality, in order to be blissful (read: happy).

Not knowing meant not worrying, right? The most important thing is only ourselves… If I didn’t open the news about bad things out there, I don’t have to worry about going out… If we believe life was and is perfect, we would be in a state of perfect happiness. Sounds ideal. Everyone is happy. Right?

Wrong.

Why? Because ignorance protects you from suffering, but means closing your eyes from reality. Being ignorant means consciously not wanting to know about a proper knowledge, and a lack of a proper knowledge means abandoning what is crucial.

Up until this level, it still sounds unproblematic, right? Wrong.

While this may seem reasonable, it has more negative impacts than positives. Ignorance may seem blissful, but it is only like that, if you meant it in a selfish way. When someone is ignorant, they become self-centred, not aware of a greater picture, and apathetic.

So give me some (read: means only a few of them, there are more) examples about this case then? Sure.

• All humans know climate change is real, yet because it is not affecting you personally yet (mark the word for yet — — means it will, sooner or later, happen), you choose to leave it.
• I don’t believe in anything other than my religion, my religion is the righteous one.
• Someone keeps on saying she believes in gender equality yet when the bill comes she is shocked when the man asks to share.
• Someone thinks showing feelings equals shame so he bullies others who cry or are sensitive.
• A specific group of races are seen in a higher rank and they refuse to deny it or to give more equality to the other skin colors, as it benefited them only anyway.

It is seldomly blissful, when it comes to ignorance. Only the ones who are selfish can be downright happy from being ignorant.

Save the “but I don’t have any access” or “maybe he just lacks empathy” or “maybe he’s just not intelligent.” In the era of modern technology, and the fact that we are working & socializing through cyberspace, saying these sounded funny, as you can easily be content, but you will also be disconnected.

As a matter of fact, if the above paragraphs made you want to skip because it seemed too hard, you might as well check your level of ignorance.

A research conducted by the American Psychological Association stated that “the less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption, and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed…

“… and the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware.” — according to a paper published online in APA’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology®.