Ignorance In Voltaire's 'The Good Brahmin'

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In the Good Brahmin, Voltaire asks the following question: "would we rather be happy living in ignorance, or frustrated and dissatisfied for knowing the truth?". The moral of the story is basically: "is ignorance bliss?". "Ignorance is bliss" is a very common saying. But is it really? "Would you rather be Socrates dissatisfied or a pig satisfied?". For some people, it may not be easy to answer this question, but for other people like me, the answer is very clear. Voltaire talks about how philosophy does not necessarily make a person happy. In fact, the more a philosophers find out the truth, the less happy he or she is to become. It is very interesting because, he also asks: "If philosophy does not make one happy or wealthy, then to what good is it?". I believe knowledge is power. And yes, I have noticed that many people who are truly ignorant, believe that they are happy. But is that true happiness? And why do they seem to be so happy? because they don't know anything else other than what they have been taught. …show more content…

In my opinion, when a person is ignorant and refuses to learn new things, or they refuse to question the things that they have been taught, they are unknowingly sabotaging themselves. The reason I believe this, is because, for one, they less knowledge they have about things or life in general, the lesser opportunities will be available to them. Why? because humans create their own opportunities by going after the things that we want. If you don't have the knowledge, how will you know where to look? and also, I believe, that the less knowledge a person possesses the more vulnerable they

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