Is Ignorance Bliss?

Snowy Aftermath wrote:

TheDude wrote: neither of them are as happy as the unintelligent, widely ignorant Pooh.

This has been a lifelong source of frustration to me. One does not have to be an idiot to be happy. One does not have to blindly accept anything to be content. What Pooh had was not a lack of intellect, it was a stillness of spirit and a simplicity of motive. He was far wiser than Owl could ever be because he had the ability to listen to his intuition.

I disagree with Hoff's portrayal of this character and of his encouragement toward blind stupidity. If we CAN be more, we should. I will never accept us wasting our potential.

I think its curiosity at play. I'd read somewhere curiosity drives the most healthy brain activity. So when someone believes something unreal it might be because at some level they know its not quite correct and the curiosity generates that happiness. When we 'understand' the truth the curiosity disappears. So yea... I wouldn't say ignorance is bliss, but curiosity is bliss. Luckily the world is both big and small enough to be knowledgeable and curious at the same time!!! To me ignorance is a a bit risky.

Snowy Aftermath wrote:

TheDude wrote: neither of them are as happy as the unintelligent, widely ignorant Pooh.

This has been a lifelong source of frustration to me. One does not have to be an idiot to be happy. One does not have to blindly accept anything to be content. What Pooh had was not a lack of intellect, it was a stillness of spirit and a simplicity of motive. He was far wiser than Owl could ever be because he had the ability to listen to his intuition.

I disagree with Hoff's portrayal of this character and of his encouragement toward blind stupidity. If we CAN be more, we should. I will never accept us wasting our potential.

I see your point, but I have to disagree. I think that we accumulate knowledge and move towards wisdom precisely because it makes us happy. If there were no satisfaction to be had with learning anything, if learning weren't fun, then I would agree with you outright. But I think that a major part of seeking knowledge is yearning for the satisfaction that we think it will bring.
Suppose there is a case of an incredibly stupid person who also happens to be happy and satisfied. Hasn't he or she already accomplished the goal? Once the goal is accomplished and true happiness and satisfaction is had, for what purpose would such a person rigorously study if there is no further satisfaction to be had in doing so?
I don't remember seeing any books in Yoda's hut. I'm guessing that he satisfied the urge to gain that kind of studious knowledge long before the empire took over.

I don't personally think that lacking intellect entirely is a good thing. But there must be motivations behind being intelligent, gaining knowledge, and I think it's possible that those motivations can be satisfied in other ways.

Is it ethical, perhaps, to allow somebody to remain ignorant? Would it be helpful to argue until you were blue in the face with someone who is willfully ignorant, in that sense? Should you compromise your ethic in order to keep the peace?

Ignorance has its benefits, but just as it's been brought up, my values aren't going to exactly line up with your values. If I'm ignorant of something, my values are that I would like to be shown, not ignored or left to remain ignorant. In a manner of speaking, I'd like to know if I'm messing up somewhere, rather than people simply hating me for my ignorance and not saying anything. Don't have the nerve to say something? Get somebody who's willing. Otherwise, if you really want to keep the peace, why not ask if they know what they're doing or getting wrong. Might make for an interesting conversation.

In your case, I'd see if she knew how to determine whether it was being played backwards. Then, start chipping away the illusion with questions so that she could discover it herself. It'll stick much easier if she feels the accomplishment, than if you were to just blatantly say, "You know that's not real, right?" Of course, different people, different values. It's really up to one's own discretion.

Not knowing what you don't know is ignorance. Knowing that you don't know is wisdom. The difference? Awareness.