''Ignorance is bliss'' mentality is a necesity, as much as it is a threat

in #writing7 years ago

''Ignorance is bliss.'' Ever wondered it is such a popular expression? There is a saying, that the less you know, the better. While this usually happens in gangster movies and movies where someone has witnessed something they should not have, this is also true in real life. The saying refers to your knowledge of the events that surround you. There is a lot happening at any given time, a lot of information to take in. To find and process that information, it is a lot of work and, let's be quite clear, it is boring and simply ''not fun''.

When explaining this concept, I like to use elections as an example. Why? Because election results have direct influence on one's life. A person's vote decides who gets to represent him or her. This, in turn, affects the person directly, which is why it is a mystery, how people can be so ignorant of the facts and opinions around them, even though it is a decision, that will directly impact their way, and quality of life. A vote without sufficient research might lead to a representative that will raise taxes for no good reason and, the voter, will suffer. Then information resurfaces, that this was his plan all along, but people just decided to ignore this information, whatever the reason might be for doing so.

Researching, processing information, gathering information, they are all activities that require time, patience and willpower. As we are right now, we are used to the world ''just working''. We change presidents, representatives, little change, so why bother to do something extra on election day? We take things for granted, believe it will work out anyway, and who needs to know things anyway? The more you know, the more stressed out you might become, find out the things you rathered not have. It might affect your sleep, stress levels, even life in general. You wonder ''If I didn't know this, would I be sleeping right now?''. Taking vacations, you ignore business calls and work, because you are on vacation. An ''ignorance is bliss'' mentality is a necessity, to enjoy life, but should not be used all the time, as if it is a way of life, then You might one day find, that you are not in control of your own destiny.

Sort:  

Nicely written. I'm currently in a situation where I have to adopt this way of thinking. Under normal circumstances, I would not ignore some of the things I am witnessing, but running interference will cause friction, and detriment to my own well being, I must work towards totally tuning out.

My way of life has a lot of research in it. I enjoy finding information about new things, current events, why the situation is at it is. Analysing and gathering information is my passion.
I also try to convince myself that everything will be okay, because I KNOW it will. This can backfire of course at some point. I still am scared of flying, but I know so much about it, about commercial airlines, that it relaxes me. But whilst I did not find some crucial small bits of information I needed to complete my knowledge gap, I actually was more scared, where it almost backfired on me. That was that one point, where I truly thought that it is better to just not know.

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by Tabe[moonkitty] from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP. Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.

In this day and age of abundant information(actually a huge glut of information)..... Operating in blissful ignorance is almost a necessity. Information overload is the cancer of the 21st century. For all the good this GOOGLE age offers.....there are as many or more cons. Even Steemit is a part of the problem. The hydrant stream of posts gushing through every minute is too much....how do I find the 'good' posts.

I embrace knowledge and information....and I curse it too.