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Is ignorance bliss?

With studies stating the more intellectual a person is the more likely they are to suffer from depression and other issues, do you feel that the idiom is true?

Just_Me81 4 Feb 18
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0

On the one hand, it's hard to be upset about world events if you don't follow the news to know what they are; but on the other hand, even mentally handicapped people find things to get upset over. No one can live entirely free from negative feelings and situations.

Yes, but it's far less frequent and generally more trivial, so it faster and easier to get over. I have cared for many mentally handicapped people and they seem much happier than everyone else a vast majority of the time.

5

No, ignorance is not bliss. It's just ignorance.

4

Ignorance is indeed bliss. I see so many happy Catholics in my town gallooping around with ash on their foreheads like goofy oblivious smiling village idiots while who knows WHAT'S happening to the children they just dropped off into the hands of monsters at catechism class. They just do not want to know. They just don't want to read the news or hear the news or know that a database of catholic priests accused of abuse even exists. Ignorance is solace for them while they sacrifice their children.

3

No. I know lots of less intelligent people who are unhappy. They just seem less lost in the complexities of their miseries than more intelligent people.

2

Ignorance led to Trump. Do you feel blissful yet? Not me.

2

It may be bliss but it is a very ignorant state of being and existence.

1

Ignorance is bliss, some people have a crap life and don't realise it, good luck to them. I almost wish I was stupid.

1

Ignorance is blissful to someone using it to avoid reality. But reality has a pesky habit of finding a way to intrude on your ignorance, sooner or later.

1

No. Bliss is orgasmic. Ignorance is just ignorant.

1

I think the idiom refers to ignorance of something negative in particular (e.g., a partner whose cheating you never learn about, or a child who took a stupid risk one night without your knowledge), and I think that's often true. Ignorance in the broader sense, just lacking knowledge in the ways of the world, I think can bring about greater happiness if it means living more simply — provided basic needs are being met. I do think there's a burden of intelligence (not to be confused with knowledge) at work, too, that drives us to worry about things (some within our control, others outside) and allows us to contemplate the intrinsic meaninglessness of life. A friend, whose parents are both highly respected university professors in South Korea, said that his mother told him that intelligence is a responsibility. I think that's true. If you are above average in intellect, you have an above-average responsibility to be involved in the world — to educate, to cure, etc. — according to your ability, because most people, at or below average, are incapable of these things. I think that sense of responsibility can feel heavy and we give up some happiness, but maybe we gain a bit of satisfaction in return.

Ha. Loved your example of your kid doing something dangerously stupid and you not finding out about it. My stepdaughter once was hiking in the hills above some Chinese city and breezed past a sign that said in Mandarin, "Government Facility No Admittance". She and her hiking friends were arrested for infiltrating a top secret military installation and she somehow bullshitted her way out of it. But she could just as well have disappeared into a gulag or been shot on the spot. We found out about that a nice blissful two years later. I love being ignorant of whatever that little shit is doing at any given moment in time ... there's no controlling your adult children and therefore no percentage in worrying about them.

Then again my son had his own brand of Stoopid. He thought he knew better than his doctors when it came to experimenting with his prescription meds to get the best antidepressant effects, and his experiments ultimately DID kill him.

@mordant Geez, that's tragic! I'm so sorry about your son.

Satisfaction? Uugh, not one bit. People have given the word 'elite' a negative connotation and used it to vilify those among us that can actually advance our society. We used to want our best and brightest to take the lead, and now we just give them shit for "thinking they're better than everyone else." People are awful anyway; let it all burn.

1

Don't know anything about bliss, so I will happily decline answering the question, now where did I put my beer?

1

I've always been an intellectual person both when I was a Christian and now. There were times during my Christian life when I was blissfully ignorant, blindly following the church's teaching. There were also many time I struggled. I have suffered from depression in the past and I have been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. That is being completely treated so I have no episodes and I no longer suffer depression. Basically I am happy for the most part.

1

It can be bliss. Many people find it so blissful that they attempt to stay in that state of ignorance their whole lives. That rarely works, because everyone is in a constant state of growth...all they can do is enjoy it while they can.

marga Level 7 Feb 18, 2018
1

Absolutely. This world is inherently selfish. The less you see it, the happier you'll be.

1

There are times when I need to take news and info breaks. I feel the need to not think about things sometimes as a release from the stress of them. Knowledge is power, but it can also be a burden. There are somethings we feel compelled to change or help or support but are often left without a how. To feel informed often can lead to feeling impotent. And nobody wants to feel THAT (even writing that word as a guy makes me go all squirrely).

0

Ignorance is not a crime -- but it typically IS its' own punishment. 😛

'Knowledge' is increasingly the "coin of the realm", those who have more of it typically prosper more than those who don't (ymmv).

IMO, actively choosing ignorance IS a crime. 😮

0

Yes.

But there are times when knowledge is blissful. I enjoy being curious and finding how things work or how things broke. As a society, we’re better off with knowledge... it’s the getting the individuals to do better that is the tough part. I will go ahead and blame our lack of educational resources.

Ignorance is sometimes just being lost or holding on to things that are no longer true. We’re all ignorant about something.

Cakes Level 4 Feb 19, 2018
0

The blissful nature of true ignorance has been distorted. Blissful ignorance belongs to the innocent and pure. Never to those whom question all of which that seems unsure.

0

Only up to a point. When facing reality it cn be pretty daunting. However after continually facing it over time it becomes the new norm. It is just a matter of enduring until you get over the hump.

When I look at religious persons, I see a lot of effort expended to maintain theri beliefs, and a lto of disappointment as believing doesn't make your life work out any better than anyone elses. The bliss of ignorance is also a delusion, just like religion is. most who claim to happy in ignorance simply won't want to face th work of having to learn new things. They want their life to remain "simple" and to never change.

They expend a lot of effort convincing themselves that they are happier "not knowing".

0

It can be I guess but it can be terrible.

0

Only if you're a TeaThuglican!

0

Only if one lets it be. James

Leon Level 5 Feb 18, 2018
0

No. I know of no such studies that are recognized as legitimate.

0

You have a funny way of askig the question.

You start by referencing studies that say that the more intellectual a person is the "more likely they are to suffer from depression and other issues", then you ask ..."do you feel that the idiom is true". I was expecting you to ask if you thought this idiom were true. To ask if one feels something like this is true suggests emotional intelligence, which is different, more complex in some ways (in my opinion) than cognitive intelligence.

I don't feel or think that it is true.

cava Level 7 Feb 18, 2018
0

Well I didn't know there have been studies showing a positive correlation between being "intellectual" and being depressed. I guess I must be in a state of bliss 🙂
Seriously, we are all so very ignorant - no matter how "intellectual" we may consider ourselves. . That ignorance leads to bliss is fun to think about, and probably true in specific instances, but its far to abstract an idea to take seriously.

0

I think it about 3 or 4 years ago I heard about a study that showed that people who study ate happier than those who don't. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing things, bhut it goes deeper than that. People who study, because they know how things are, are less likely to develop unrealistic expectations and are better able to deal with life's vicissitudes.

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