“Ignorance is Bliss”, does that ring a bell? You may have been told something of that nature at one point during your life. “What you don’t know won’t hurt you”, how about that one? Parents often tell their children that when they have questions and their parents aren’t open to answering them. Humans tell people these things to avoid giving an answer. What does “Ignorance is Bliss” truly mean? “Ignorance is Bliss”, means that if you do not know about something it won’t hurt you. Ignorance means lack of knowledge so if you lack knowing something it won’t hurt you according to this saying. I actually don’t necessarily agree with that because what someone doesn’t know could hurt them later on in their lifetime. If a person doesn’t tell another
it is seen that knowledge can hurt. It is also shown that sometimes one can know
Because of that phrase, I never take anything for granted. I know that with experience comes knowledge, even experiences in small everyday tasks. So, if someone were to overlook an event they went through or new information they received, they’d be missing out on a chance for more knowledge. Even though it takes hard work, when we as humans learn more, we only benefit in the end. Because of my enthusiasm to gain knowledge, I would be a positive addition to the current National Junior Honor Society.
Samuel Johnson quote, "Ignorance, when voluntary, is criminal," can be interpreted in many ways while still having the same base meaning. My interpretation of the quote is when one does something that he or she knows is wrong or does something without gaining full knowledge about the action and the consequences of that action, the level of ignorance that person obtains should be considered a crime. When a person knowingly does something that can harm oneself and other people or things around him or her, that person’s action should consider criminal. The level of ignorance that person has to his or self, personal safety and safety for others is dangerous and should not be accept in society. For example, people who smoke in public places, such
" First, there is some confusion between innocence and ignorance. They are often used interchangeably. Because a person is innocent, it does not mean that he or she is unaware of reality. Innocence is almost like a different type of view. A child and an adult may interpret a single thing entirely differently, but this does not mean that the adult knows more about that thing.
In the Apology, Socrates makes a very similar example in his opening statement referring to being blinded by his ignorance but, coming to the realization that he needed to change his thoughts and reasoning. Explaining his journey from ignorance to enlightenment Socrates pleads his story to courtroom saying, “For to fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For no one knows whether death may not be the greatest good that can happen to man” (Plato). Socrates uses a metaphor to explain ignorance through preconceived ideas without any evidence supporting
Our knowledge is a key to our success and happiness in our life to give us personal satisfaction. Knowledge is power but not always. Sometimes our self-awareness and growth as an individual gives us negative thoughts that make us want to go back to undo it. Everyone wants to unlearn a part in our life that brought us pain and problems. Good or bad experiences brought by true wisdom can be used for our self-acceptance, self-fulfillment and these experiences would make us stronger as we walk to the road of our so called “life”, but Douglas’s and my experience about knowledge confirmed his belief that “Knowledge is a curse”. Both of us felt frustrated and sad from learning knowledge.
We live our lives based upon discoveries that others have made before us. The words of our elders influence the decisions we make. In 1597 Sir Frances Bacon claimed that knowledge is power and his words are understood by generations upon generations after. The more a person knows, the more aware they are of the world around them. It is rare that someone would not want to bear knowledge and wisdom. After reading Oedipus Rex’s first play, one can see why a person would be content not knowing the whole truth. Until now, it always believed the more a person knows, the more satisfying of a life that person will pursue. The unfortunate events of Oedipus’ life makes the reader look at the concept of knowledge from a whole
"The veil of ignorance ensures the equality of power and knowledge that the original position requires. By ensuring that no one knows his or her place in society, his strengths or weaknesses, his values or ends, the veil of ignorance ensures that no one can take advantage, even unwittingly, of a favorable bargaining position". (Sandel Pg.150)
Ignorance means lacking knowledge or being unaware, and the ignorance of the townspeople is demonstrated throughout the entire story. When told by Mr. Adams, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery" (236), Old Man Warner states, "'There's always been a lottery" (236). In this statement, the reader sees the most ignorant of all excuses for doing anything. This, however, seems normal for the community. Whenever a person is questioned about why they do something unusual, their usual answer is something along the lines of "Because I do it all the time." This shows ignorance on their part because they cannot even back up what they do with a valid reason, as with the townspeople in this story. Anot...
It is worse to suffer in ignorance than to know how awful the situation is and to endure it. In Animal Farm, Boxer, Clover, and Sheep were suffering from ignorance and Benjamin accepts everything what had happened even after knowing the situation of the farm.
Not only does ignorance have a negative impact on people, it is also “the root and stem of all evil” (Plato), which can destroy a person. To start off, self-superiority can cloud a person’s judgment; making it evident that intelligence can easily be lost to arrogance. To add on, anger and the human tendency to make rash decisions can also contribute to ignorance, resulting in eventual downfall. Lastly, unconscious attempts to blind yourself from the truth can result in the committing of major sins. Tragedy occurs in “Oedipus the King” when ignorance causes disastrous events, proving that lack of knowledge can result in their misfortune.
The veil of ignorance means to not know how specific deliberations will affect ones over a particular case and being obliged to evaluate evaluate principles solely on the basis of the general considerations. These people characterize things into two groups. Things that they do not know and are ignored, and things that they must know. Things that they often ignore consist of class positions, social statuses, distribution of goods, and natural assets and abilities. Things within the veil of ignorance that usually known are basic features of human social life, understanding political affairs, principles of economic theories, philosophy, and social organizations. The people incharge of taking a stand on the original position then often use these as a guide to make decisions on new laws and other necessities of a
To see or not to see, that is the real question. Is ignorance really bliss? Is the truth really worth it? And isn’t that ironic? The motif of sight and blindness is used in the classic Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, to emphasize ignorance, knowledge, and to have a sense of irony in the character of Tiresias.
But when we consider ignorance along with agnosticism which is a mode of the intellective process, there is an obvious contradiction. Because ignorance is not just mere lack of a knowing, conversely, every ignorance is always a process of being ignorant of something quite precise. In other words, one who ignores knows in a particular form what it is that he ignores. For example, a person who has no knowledge on economics is not ignorant of what a Cobb-Douglas equation is, because he lacks information to such equations. Only the man who is told about Cobb-Douglas equations, and does not know what we are talking about because he does not understand the meaning of the words, only then is this man ignorant of what a Cobb-Douglas equation is.
“If you’re oblivious to other people, chances are pretty good that you’re going to hurt them.” said William Deresiewicz who is an author and literary critic. His quote was proved it is correct in the story “The Way Up To Heaven” by Roald Dahl, originally published in the New Yorker. In one of the characters, Mrs. Foster, the author creates a sweet character (at first) but soon she switched into and oblivious and inconsiderate old woman who left her husband to die.