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Many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance. By purposeful ignorance, I mean that they would rather be ignorant than challenge themselves and acknowledge a truth about reality. They would rather be ignorant because they like to think they understand things, and challenging one's beliefs is difficult. It is difficult because it means admitting that any of your current views are subject to change - any of them could be incorrect.
I am going to use a story of a recent event(about an hour ago) to give an example of this. My mom has a cat, named Mocha. This cat is quite the little hunter, it has no qualms about catching, "playing with", and killing whatever it can safely get it's paws on. Actually, last night, it brought a deer mouse into the house and dropped it there - which led to me having to try to catch the mouse(and failing because the little fucker can jump like 3 feet in the air). But anyways, that's a different story.
So, I am helping my father prepare dinner, and we hear distressed shrieks at the door. The 3 of us were conversing, and my mom immediately interrupts the conversation and starts totally freaking out. She runs to the door and screams Mocha, No!. There on the doorstep lies a bird, surely dying, repeatedly shrieking in terror and surely in pain.
My mother starts saying "no, no, no", clearly distraught. My dad doesn't have much to say but it is obvious that he doesn't like the situation either. We chase the cat away, and I volunteer to move the bird somewhere to die(it used to be I would volunteer to put it out of it's misery at this point, but I have since changed my views on that).
I believe the bird was a Meadow Lark
![[image loading]](http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/images04/oleynik_Meadow_Lark.jpg)
Image for people who must have an image.
So anyways, I volunteer to move the bird. My dad says "no, you won't need to.. the cat won't come back after that traumatic event(referring to my parents screaming at it). I say "you sure....?" My father doesn't reply. So I do nothing.
2-3 minutes later there is more shrieking. Yep, the cat is back, lol. My mom just starts totally freaking out. My dad gets pissed. The cat runs away. I again volunteer to do something with the bird. My dad ignores me(I guess he has to be the man of the house). He puts the bird in a box and apparently sets it out somewhere in the woods on the ground, which seems totally retarded to me because there is nothing to stop the cat or another animal from harrassing it again. But whatever.
And so, we finish preparing dinner. My mom is obviously distressed by this and now in a bad mood, and is talking about how much it pisses her off when the cat does this.
I inform her "you know, the mice suffer just like this bird does, and she kills dozens of mice for every bird".
My mom says "yes, it's just the shrieking that bothers me".
I say "well, it's natural for an animal that is in stress to display it. I am sure the mice display it as well."
She says "yes, but I don't have to hear it. I am sorry that you don't feel sad about it."
This is a prime example of purposeful ignorance.
Now, I feel very strongly for animals who suffer, I feel compassion and empathy for all living creatures. But I also have understanding that it is temporary, and that's why I can handle watching an animal die without freaking out. Yes, i would prefer it didn't suffer. But it's only natural, it isn't the end of the world. Just like when people die, everyone overreacts. Everyone is afraid of death. It's because they are purposely ignorant. They don't challenge theirselves.
My mom has already withdrawn into denial of the situation. It's gone from her mind, she has no interest in contemplating it or trying to grow in understanding in any way. I however looked upon the bird and watched it's dying, I accepted my feelings of sadness for the bird, there is nothing wrong with that. Denying or fighting bad feelings only leads to stronger aversion - you will suffer more in the future as a result. I do not suffer from feeling bad about the animal, it isn't a big deal.
I guess I am done talking about this LOL, I kind of forgot where I was going, as always I just kind of typed what came out of my brain as I was thinking. Maybe some conversation will come of this I don't really want to have to force myself to think of more stuff to type.
 
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+ Show Spoiler [stream of consciousness intro] +i saw the giant blog, realized i dont have the focus to actually read it, and was about to move away.
then i saw the bird and it convinced to me read the whole thing.
and so:
ignorance is a bliss man. you can't possibly expect everything in the world to go right, and since theres shitload you're better off just not knowing, why worry about it? i'd agree with your mom here (not your dad though lol)
+ Show Spoiler +also, if anyone reads QC, is this...?
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How is there a shitload you're better off not knowing? Could you please explain to me the benefit of ignorance? Let me assure you that ignorant people suffer more in the long run than people who challenge theirselves to gain acceptance of reality. Not to mention they are weaker, stupider, more naive, and more foolish.
And what is QC?
Why does spellcheck want me to put a hyphen in "theirselves". Is that not one word? And if it isn't, why not?
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You know, I bet this blog probably offends a lot of people. But that's good, they should be offended.
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alright, i'll give you that ignorance isnt optimal for everyone. but generally people are too involved in their own lives, too mentally or emotionally weak, or too impractically empathetic to benefit from knowing all the troubles, horrors, and such that happen around them.
i'm sure that if ignorance was truly abolished, the world would be a much better place, but its highly utopian and impractical.
+ Show Spoiler [QC Webcomic] +
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That's freaky, because I woke up last night to a shrieking bird being caught by our cats. I even ran out the door in my underwear to try and save it ...
seRapH is right though, as a human you can't fathom how much suffering there is in the world. Life just wouldn't be bearable if we could. I still feel sorry for the bird even though ten thousands of animals are being killed every day to feed us. We're hypocritical and short-sighted so we can be happy with our lives, just mindlessly enjoying it till the end ... just like the bird must have done.
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i usually have 0 qualms with situations like an animal death, but i have one distinct memory of lying awake in bed listening to something out in the yard in the middle of the night (a cat?) killing another thing (a rabbit maybe? the neighbors had recently lost one..). went on for what seemed forever, death rattles can give me the chills. never found any evidence as to what killed what.
it'd be nice if people would turn to face the truth in everyday life, but in many cases it's too heavy a burden.
edit: someone mentioned that racoons gettin it on can sound like animals killing each other, so maybe it was that ;D
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great blog dude. you are very right, except for your opening statement "many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance." with this statement your are just "sorta right." in fact, all people have moments of purposeful ignorance. you should draw the line at people that don't live their lives that way.
it is a purpose-driven life, though, and not an easy one. if you ever find yourself arguing a point not to help another, but to convince yourself, then i argue you (used generally) are not living this kind of life. arguing with a person will only change your feelings, not the facts of the circumstances.
don't argue with people for your own sake. argue with them to find the truth.
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I agree animals don't deserve to suffer anymore than we do but it is the way of life. Many people are starving to death, suffer from life threatening diseases and some wish to rather be dead. Most of us often care only about our lives and our situation but sympathy and compassion is what makes us human. Personally, I can't help but feel remorse for those that are suffering whether they are human or not.
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On July 06 2010 10:46 danl9rm wrote:
great blog dude. you are very right, except for your opening statement "many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance." with this statement your are just "sorta right." in fact, all people have moments of purposeful ignorance.
not necessarily. there are some very wise people out there, there are probably even enlightened people out there - there are a lot of people on the earth and a lot of people in pursuit of it. most of them don't post on the internetz. they live in caves and monasteries and huts
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The main way that this manifests for me is with meat consumption.
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On July 06 2010 10:52 travis wrote:Show nested quote +On July 06 2010 10:46 danl9rm wrote:
great blog dude. you are very right, except for your opening statement "many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance." with this statement your are just "sorta right." in fact, all people have moments of purposeful ignorance. not necessarily. there are some very wise people out there, there are probably even enlightened people out there - there are a lot of people on the earth and a lot of people in pursuit of it. most of them don't post on the internetz. they live in caves and monasteries and huts
But doesn't this form of asceticism change the the ignorance with avoidance? It is still running away from the issue, just in a different form.
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On July 06 2010 10:59 koreasilver wrote:Show nested quote +On July 06 2010 10:52 travis wrote:On July 06 2010 10:46 danl9rm wrote:
great blog dude. you are very right, except for your opening statement "many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance." with this statement your are just "sorta right." in fact, all people have moments of purposeful ignorance. not necessarily. there are some very wise people out there, there are probably even enlightened people out there - there are a lot of people on the earth and a lot of people in pursuit of it. most of them don't post on the internetz. they live in caves and monasteries and huts But doesn't this form of asceticism change the the ignorance with avoidance? It is still running away from the issue, just in a different form.
No, do you know what enlightenment is? I could explain it to you. But I would prefer if first you told me what you think it is. It is much more than ascetism, that really doesn't describe it.
(please don't copy or look up something online. just try to use your own words without referencing something else. that way we could actually get somewhere)
if you wanted to pm me to discuss something like this I would gladly discuss it via pm.
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Belgium6771 Posts
On July 06 2010 10:59 koreasilver wrote:Show nested quote +On July 06 2010 10:52 travis wrote:On July 06 2010 10:46 danl9rm wrote:
great blog dude. you are very right, except for your opening statement "many people, if not all people, have moments of purposeful ignorance." with this statement your are just "sorta right." in fact, all people have moments of purposeful ignorance. not necessarily. there are some very wise people out there, there are probably even enlightened people out there - there are a lot of people on the earth and a lot of people in pursuit of it. most of them don't post on the internetz. they live in caves and monasteries and huts But doesn't this form of asceticism change the the ignorance with avoidance? It is still running away from the issue, just in a different form.
well you can't logically expect that every issue can be solved by yourself
+ Show Spoiler +humanity is out of controool maaan
but I guess being aware at least instigates you to solve those 'close enough' to you?
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i dont care about mice/rats because they hide inside the house and make noise as they run through the crack. Birds are nice little fellas...
sorta like clubbing seals and shooting cows. Both are animals. But one is cute, the other isnt.
Sucks being bored ugly.
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If you knew the bird was going to die why didn't you kill it off instead of letting a cat toy with it or letting it sit out in the woods suffering till something else comes along and ends it?
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On July 06 2010 11:22 SLTorak.Hobo wrote:
If you knew the bird was going to die why didn't you kill it off instead of letting a cat toy with it or letting it sit out in the woods suffering till something else comes along and ends it?
I had no intentions of allowing the cat to toy with it. I'd rather allow it to die in peace. I would only kill the animal myself if I knew it's suffering was to be extreme and prolonged. It isn't really my place to decide whether or not an animal's life is still worth living.
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On July 06 2010 10:26 seRapH wrote:
ignorance is a bliss man. you can't possibly expect everything in the world to go right, and since theres shitload you're better off just not knowing, why worry about it? i'd agree with your mom here (not your dad though lol)
On July 06 2010 10:36 seRapH wrote:
alright, i'll give you that ignorance isnt optimal for everyone. but generally people are too involved in their own lives, too mentally or emotionally weak, or too impractically empathetic to benefit from knowing all the troubles, horrors, and such that happen around them.
i'm sure that if ignorance was truly abolished, the world would be a much better place, but its highly utopian and impractical.
yeah, ignorance is bliss. the simple mind is the most easily satisfied mind, because higher standards require awareness of details and consequences, and if you dont have them or ignore them then your standards will be significantly lower. these people are like animals, not like humans. they can think, but they choose not to. instead they ignore reality because it makes them feel better.
that makes it useful for simple minded people, but it doesnt make it a worthwhile thing and it doesnt make it good. its like in the matrix: which one of the pills do you want? is feeling good more important than reality?
i also agree that it is a highly utopian/idealistic idea, but that is only because many humans dont care enough about anything other than feeling good about themselves and the value system they have established for themselves. it is utopian, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt strive for it, does it? i think not.
if you cant change people then at least lead by example and create your own utopian bubble, however small it might be.
i will close with two of my favourite thoughts on this.
The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get the Truth. It is not possession of the Truth, but rather the pursuit of Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectability is to be found. Possession makes one passive, indolent, and proud. If God were to hold all Truth concealed in His right hand, and in his left only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with a proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand. — Gotthold Emphraim Lessing
There is one art of which every man should be a master - the art of reflection.
If you are not a thinking man, to what purpose are you a man at all? — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Instead you shuffle it to somewhere that it won't bother you? Sounds like you would rather be ignorant of its situation then resolve it. Its not deciding whether its life is worth living its doing the right thing if its gonna die its gonna die. Those couple minutes of being in pure pain isn't going to be highlight of its life. Injuries don't suddenly disappear and heal up in a matter of minutes, if the bird wasn't capable of moving it wasn't gonna suddenly jump up and fly off into a happy life.
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United States24701 Posts
I really hate the issue of putting an animal out of its misery and how looked down upon it is.... You can't do it in front of other people but I feel terrible seeing an animal suffer to death when we could so easily prevent that.
Obviously there is a fine line... you don't want to stomp an animal to death that has a slightly bruised leg or something.
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EPT
