Knowledge vs Ignorance

Is Ignorance bliss or is it better to know all you can?

I'd like to get in before this gets sidetracked into a "forbidden knowledge" discussion.

There's been times in my life where, at the time, I wished I didn't know the things I did. Who really wants to know that their first girlfriend cheated on them? But in the grander game, it's good to know even the crappiest of things. I grew from it. I became a bit more jaded, I'll admit, but I learned a lesson about people: Everyone shows signs, and not everyone can be trusted.

In my weaker moments I wish I was an unawakened moron who knew nothing of artistic integrity or cinematography. I sit and wish that I could watch a movie without analysing the stunts or plot. I wished I could genuinely enjoy the utter garbage played on the radio the same way my workmates do.

But the things I know compose a great deal of who I am. The best of things and the worst of things come together to give you a piece of who you are. Ignorance can be bliss, but that's the easy way out.

Wendaline wrote: Is Ignorance bliss or is it better to know all you can?

I concur with William...

There is much I wish I didnt know now, yet there is still so much I am curious about that I long to learn...

That being said...

It is not condoning ignorance, in my opinion, it is merely a statemnet of fact...

My father-in-law is sick... Really bad, getting better, but, still not 100%...

Before he knew he was sick, he thought he had a sinus issue, not the severly serious, potential death sentence sickness he is experiencing...

While he was just thinking it was sinuses, life was good, things continued as normal...

When he finally went to the doctor, he found out it was serious, and had he not of came when he did, he mighta died pretty quick...

Now, through treatment, he is getting better, yet, now that we have the knowledge, we are sadder... Knowing that this could return, and that his risk is even higher for this sickness, and that he might not survive another bout...

Had it killed him quick, we would have all sat around, and still laughed and joked about life, and his sinuses, and things would have been normal...

So, while we didnt know he was sick, our ignorance had us in the "bliss" state...

Now that we know he is sick, we are on pins and needles... Curious about every sneeze, every bruise, every doctor visit, every thing...

This is hell on my mother in law, and my wife, an only child... Me too, but, its different for me and everyone else, as he is not my dad, nor husband....

I hope I got my point through...

While ignorant of the sickness, life was normal...

After finding out about his illness, life has changed considerably...

Not good, not bad, just different...

Ignorance can be bliss if a person does not wish to be aware of the world around them. If all they care about is themselves and their happiness,by all means they should be ignorant.

Those of us who care about people, about the health and happiness of their friends and family, about the world as a whole, we must be aware and educated. Ignorance, or the lack awareness, can lead to fear. Fear is the lack of knowledge which propogates hatred.

For Jedi... Knowledge is bliss, Serenity is bliss, Harmony is bliss,Peace is Bliss and The Force is bliss.

Ignorance is just being devoid of knowledge and so the impact of knowledge that is going to destroy any state of bliss is probably often because of the lateness for the acquisition of knowledge, and not because of the knowledge itself. This can compound the bad news by creating emotions about loss of control and being ignorant, such as the failure to employ counter-measures which might have been available if knowledge had been acquired earlier. No one said it was easy but I'd rather know the truth everytime as early as possible, and learn to find bliss in reality.

I would agree with you on most, but I think ignorance is also the lack of wanting to gain knowledge. It is the lack of having an open mind because the people who formulated your childhood reasoning, did not give you the tools to accept another hypothesis. Ignorance is a multifaceted poblem that incorporates EGO plus social and religious stigma. Maybe for them, bliss is believing in what someone tells you to believe. It's safer and takes less time away from belittling others for their beliefs?

On the other hand, ignorance can be a disability like any other handicap. It could be inherant in the DNA or caused by chemical makeup of the body. In this case ignorance is the norm and it is in this state of being that they find bliss. When left unto their own environment, they are happy to live in the world their mind creates.

Please bear in mind that these are thoughts and do not reflect my full beliefs. This is "food for thought".

There was a young man who said 'though
It seems that I know that I know,
What I would like to see
Is the I that sees me
When I know that I know that I know.' -- Alan Watts, "The Nature of Consciousness"

The question in and of itself is a koan. What is our knowledge of knowledge or our ignorance of ignorance ? Par extension, this implies a certain knowledge of ignorance and a definite ignorance of knowledge. It could be that bliss is the knowledge of what one has to know in the Now we are and the ignorance of the rest ...

So :


A Jedi should “know that he does not know”. This is the basis of methodical doubt, it is the basis of Taoism and it is wise to believe in a gaping margin for error. If 'to know' is to hold a 'justifiable true belief', then one must approach everything one want to believe knowing with evidences for the justifiability, and the truth, of what one is 'knowing'. Furthermore, as most, if not all, knowledge tends to be shown untrue, or only partially true, over time, then 'to know' becomes only a temporary advantage at best. For this, the knowledge that one does not 'know' eliminates the possibility of Ignorance, for not knowing allows for learning what is true. Thus, 'to un-learn what one has learnt' is the very cornerstone of this phrase of the Code.
-- The Orion Letters, 7 August 2012