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United States847 Posts
So I have a paper to write for my IB Philosophy SL class. My topic is the implications of knowledge, whether knowledge is good or bad, basing it off the quote of Thomas Gray "ignorance is bliss." I was wondering what TL thought about this topic and why.
I agree with said quote because if your ignorant, you lack the worries that come with knowledge, and the worries will then weigh you down, by constantly nagging at you. In the movie Pi,+ Show Spoiler + the protagonist strives to learn throughout the movie, and is driven almost insane, into in the end he drills into his brain so that he can no longer learn, and as a result he is happy.
On the other hand Socrates believed that the unexamined life is not worth living. He viewed that it is one's moral obligation to achieve their full human potential, which is the greek's definition of happiness.
Poll: "Ignorance is bliss" agree/disagree
(Vote): Agree
(Vote): Disagree
Also it would be nice if you could mention prominent philosophers and their stance on this issue.
 
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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. - Ernest Hemingway
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It's bliss for the ignorant person....not for others
lol
Are you supposed to just analyse this based on your own opinion? There are so many countless philosophies of happiness and bliss, are you supposed to incorporate some other theories into your response or what
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United States847 Posts
We are supposed to analyze it based off of our own opinions but support it with the help of other philosophers.
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Knowledge will eventually lead you to the conclussion you cannot know everything. Ergo, you cannot have the happiness of knowing everything. It just depends on wether you are willing to accept that or not.
I can't really discuss or comment on someone's qoute from an objective point of view, these were my 2 cents.
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You can't be happy if you are not ignoring your failures. Accepting that you can't do everything perfect is roughly the same thing as ignoring that you can improve, when you do something bad it doesn't hurt due to it being some universal law but because you should do it better next time, ignoring that pain is the same thing as being ignorant over your place in the world.
The more you understand the more you realize the amount of lies which are needed for the world to go around. Those lies give people a purpose and makes them happy but only as long as you believe in them. The more lies you discover the less meaning your life gets and as with all knowledge it is a one way road you wont walk back on.
Ultimate ignorance is when a person believes he is the center of the universe and that everything he do is unquestionably the best thing to do.
I would say that self righteousness is bliss, no more moral choices or philosophical arguments, I am right and that's it; That is usually the way of those who says they have discovered true happiness through meditation, they created enough belief in what they do that they don't have to worry any longer.
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I rather be dumb and be happy anyday than be super smart and grump all the time.
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On February 17 2009 07:09 YPang wrote:
I rather be dumb and be happy anyday than be super smart and grump all the time.
Too bad that people can't make that choice.
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I think ignorance is bliss, but people would rather be aware and be miserable than be ignorant and be happy.
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On February 17 2009 07:17 BlackJack wrote:
I think ignorance is bliss, but people would rather be aware and be miserable than be ignorant and be happy.
No, I think that its just that it always seem greener on the other side and you only got enough money to pay for passage over once.
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I would approach the question with the stance that the saying is far too vague. It seems many people agree that ignorance is directly correlated in some way to bliss (atm 19-8), but there have to be many instances where ignorance leads to pain, as well; e.g. the lower class, non-academic frustrated with his circumstances, and yet unable to understand the world around him. Of course, many people on the internet might disagree and state that if he weren't aware of his frustrations (i.e. ignorant), he might be happy (i.e. ignorance is bliss); but, if one were to actually relegate the individual to such a base state of intellect, would he even really qualify as a sentient human individual? Anyways, it occurs to me that you also have to take into consideration that many internet users are technologically more adept than the vast unrepresented populations left on the world, and thus might be operating under the assumption that they are less ignorant than those who they term as being ignorant -- yet they (the internet users) are not free from the daily troubles within their lives either, and so come to associate higher intellect, or technological affinity, or awareness as leading to less happiness, whereas others who are more ignorant by being deficient in those categories are happier. In short, I think that assuming that ignorance is bliss due to personal experiences might be a dangerous principle to be utilizing -- although ignorance may indeed be more blissful, it's important to recognize that such a rule would have to have many living exceptions, and that people we would call ignorant may be living in pain that we are unaware of.
As to known philosophers, I have nothing... =3 Sorry~
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On February 17 2009 06:27 naonao wrote:
Also it would be nice if you could mention prominent philosophers and their stance on this issue.
buddha. he says ignorance is the root cause of suffering. which i believe is pretty opposite to bliss
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It might be, I don't know.
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omg i'm in IB also! i feel so sorry for you
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As far as I'm concerned the amount of knowledge you possess is completely unrelated to how happy you are. How satisfied you are with your life is more a question of your own philosophy and beliefs and the feelings that come from that don't really change regardless of what you learn or understand; the way in which you express them and the circumstances surrounding them might be different, but ultimately they're the same thing.
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I honestly cant comprehend how being ignorant can make you happier, or rather, how knowing more can make you miserable. Isnt the unknown the biggest fear humans have?
Its in mans nature to be curious, its the very key of our superiority above other species.
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I was happy.
I opened my mailbox and found out I had jury duty.
I was unhappy.
I found out that since I didn't actually live in the county where I go to school I didn't have to serve.
I was happy.
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It really depends on the degree of a metaphysical standpoint you want to look at it from. It's a highly personal and subjective question as well.
If you're a Socrates, then ignorance is damnable. If not, ignorance does have its merits.
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Which merits could ignorance possibly have?
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
ha i finished IB and im in university now. graduating from university this year.
good luck XD
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You can be retarded and not ignorant about it or you can be retarded and not knowing it. I would rather know im a phailure in the world then not
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On February 17 2009 08:27 Cloud wrote:
Which merits could ignorance possibly have?
Knowing some things can cause you stress. For example, if someone told you that you were going to be killed that day, you would live that day significantly more paranoid, and more stressful than if somebody abruptly walked up to you and shot you.
EDIT: Extra comma.
EDIT2: I personally agree that ignorance is bliss, but personally, I believe that knowing is much more advantageous, or at least for my personality.
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United States847 Posts
On February 17 2009 08:27 Cloud wrote:
Which merits could ignorance possibly have?
It can prevent you from thinking of unneccesary things that will disturb your peace of mind, and cause you to worry incessantly.
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On February 17 2009 08:24 PH wrote:
It really depends on the degree of a metaphysical standpoint you want to look at it from. It's a highly personal and subjective question as well.
If you're a Socrates, then ignorance is damnable. If not, ignorance does have its merits.
But that would imply that what we call 'ignorance' is subject-specific, and doesn't follow any universal rules as to whether it leads to happiness or suffering, no? Surely there must be a better way to understanding it than that?
That said, I largely agree with armed_'s post; I don't think knowledge can be directly correlated with amount of suffering, and that there must be more intermediaries involved than what humans are currently willing to consider. Although I don't think said post will really help the OP... =P
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I don't think stupid people are any happier than clever people. Different things make people happier. Stupid people might find basic things very fun, but they also find basic problems very frustrating.
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On February 17 2009 08:30 Archaic wrote:
For example, if someone told you that you were going to be killed that day, you would live that day significantly more paranoid, and more stressful than if somebody abruptly walked up to you and shot you.
Maybe you would, but that doesn't apply to everybody. How someone would treat a situation like that is what determines their happiness, not the fact that they have knowledge as opposed to being ignorant.
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On February 17 2009 08:30 Archaic wrote:Show nested quote +On February 17 2009 08:27 Cloud wrote:
Which merits could ignorance possibly have? Knowing some things can cause you stress. For example, if someone told you that you were going to be killed that day, you would live that day significantly more paranoid, and more stressful than if somebody abruptly walked up to you and shot you. EDIT: Extra comma. EDIT2: I personally agree that ignorance is bliss, but personally, I believe that knowing is much more advantageous, or at least for my personality.
But knowing that you are going to be murdered might just save you. Or would you be pissed at the guy who tipped you off because he made the, presumedly, last moments of your life, miserable?
On February 17 2009 08:30 naonao wrote:Show nested quote +On February 17 2009 08:27 Cloud wrote:
Which merits could ignorance possibly have? It can prevent you from thinking of unneccesary things that will disturb your peace of mind, and cause you to worry incessantly.
What do you mean about thinking unneccessary things? I mean apparently, everybody who thinks being knowledgeable brings you misery is because they think that that knowledge is just about how shitty the world really is, but i believe that knowledge will also give you objectivity. And what about the other side of the coin? To give a really simple example, the more i know about a sport, the more i can enjoy it.
Also, merit, entails that there was some effort placed. Do you really have to try hard to be ignorant?
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On February 17 2009 08:30 Archaic wrote:Show nested quote +On February 17 2009 08:27 Cloud wrote:
Which merits could ignorance possibly have? Knowing some things can cause you stress. For example, if someone told you that you were going to be killed that day, you would live that day significantly more paranoid, and more stressful than if somebody abruptly walked up to you and shot you.
well technically it's still what you don't know that is causing you the stress.
my opinion at least
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I agree with buddha with the ignorance =suffering, but i am sure he means it in a large view point, as in, if nobody was ignorant we would have heaven on earth (nobody starving etc etc).on a personal level, i think ignorance is bliss, i think during Rwanda the biggest search on google was paris hiltons drunk driving (or something else equally stupid).
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I think that since you waited to do this Philo IA for so long, then Ignorance is not bliss, because you ignored your Philo IA and now you have to do it. 
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United States847 Posts
Did they guy really not know it was his? O.o
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more correct would be 'worrying less is good'
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'ignorance is bliss' is way too general and will run into problems.
For instance in Pi it is not as simple as just saying that he is now happier because he is ignorant. It's more like he had to get away from the madness.
Anyway, clearly sometimes not knowing something can make you happier than knowing it.
But I find this far from saying that ignorance is bliss.
If you take bliss as a kind of relaxed contentment clearly ignorance as bliss holds some truth.
But if you view bliss as supreme happiness, utter joy or contentment, feeling one with the universe, I don't see simple not knowing something causing this kind of state.
Take a pragmatic look at the extremes of ignorance in the world.
Are people with mental retardation more often blissful/happy?
The answer is no as far as I know.
But perhaps it is possible to work yourself into a state of blissful ignorance. E.g. thinking god has a mission for you and all your acts are of his design and you feel fantastic. But on second thought, it does not seem ignorance is driving this, but rather delusion.
Lastly there seems to be a larger question of what is of greatest value.
Is it happiness/bliss at all costs?
Pretty clearly 'real' happiness seems to be of more value than the ignorant sort as it has a relation to 'the way things are', even if it feels the same.
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for every up there is a down
blissful ignorance will eventually result in a rude awakening
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Yea but only if you are truly ignorant
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SPOILERS ON THE MOVIE Pi PLEASE FUCK
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United States847 Posts
On February 17 2009 13:47 Duke wrote:
SPOILERS ON THE MOVIE Pi PLEASE FUCK
Sorry, since it was a super old movie i assumed it wasn't neccesary.
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EPT
