Ignorance is easy

“Ignorance is bliss” – this is one quote I’ve always had an ambiguous view about. Ignorance cannot be equated with bliss! Our knowledge of medicine has ensured that we live longer, healthier lives. The invention of the wheel has helped us go from one place to another rapidly, effectively making the world a smaller place to live in. The internet has made knowledge easily accessible, and is in fact filled with unnecessary information. I think you get the drift. At a rational level, knowledge is wonderful and helps us lead better lives. In an ideal world, it would also be used for the right reasons. There would be no terrorism and no hackers on the internet.  Knowledge unfortunately is often used for not-so-nice purposes (I find the term evil strong).

However, knowledge pricks the bubbles we live in. We wouldn’t have the desire to travel if we didn’t know there are places to explore. We could live in bubbles of ignorance, in true bliss. But the problem arises when we realize that we are living in a bubble. You would be happy eating at Beijing Bites, until you discover Mainland China. Our perceptions of people too change when we discover more about their lives. We understand why they do what they do, and we can’t interpret their actions in the same manner. Last week’s incident in Delhi where a 23 year-old was gang-raped horrified several women across the country as we could be next. It is the knowledge of the possibility that it could happen to any woman that is terrifying. We could live our lives as a bachelor or spinster but the knowledge that a happily (howsoever one may choose to define happiness) married life is possible bothers us. Hallucinations and fantasy are another story altogether; you wouldn’t be bothered by them until you know you are hallucinating or fantasizing. Knowledge is indeed a killjoy.

I think it boils down to our choices. Ignorance is the easy way out. Complications are minimal, and it is less exhausting. Indians are discontented with their lives so they move abroad in search of greener pastures, and that creates the larger problems of identity confusion and brain drain. Plane crashes would not occur if the airplane hadn’t been invented in the first place. Do you see the chain of events? It would be as easy as counting from 1 to 3 if we were unaware of the options. Sometimes because one lacks the courage or strength they choose an easy career. Our experiences, perceptions and more importantly choices are what determine whether ignorance is truly bliss or not. It is we who decide what to ignore and what not to ignore. The flight or fight response (slightly exaggerated analogy) applies to this too. The irony, however is that only when one gains knowledge can one truly say whether ignorance is bliss or not. Doesn't the very fact that you know it is ignorance mean you understand what knowledge is? You cannot consciously ignore something without acknowledging it. Maybe there is a need for rephrasing. Or maybe it is best to leave it as a mystery, not complicate it and live in bliss!