I'm trying to explain to someone, but can't find the words, why exactly ignorance cannot lead to true happiness. The person says that knowledge brings misery, but yet I think that although knowledge may bring despair, happiness without knowledge is not true happiness. Help please?
2006-11-16 14:31:40 · 12 answers · asked by Sadie 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I think u are trying say is that u chose to remain ignorant despite the knowledge, and then can it lead to happiness.??If so then the ans is no in my opinion.It's like u don'no swimming and then u know what a jump from Niagra falls can do to u and still u jump it.U can see where u'll land can't u????
2006-11-16 15:24:40 · answer #1 · answered by 666 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ignorance is not knowing the truth. Perhaps the truth would hurt you, or perhaps the truth would help you. Because of this, ignorance can or cannot lead to happiness. If the truth would hurt you, and you were free of knowing the truth, then you would be happy. But it would not be a true happiness; it would be an empty shell of a happiness; a sham, an obscurity over the truth. If the truth would help you, then the happiness you would know in ignorance may be less than the happiness you would have if you knew the truth and would have stepped out of your ignorance. Thus, ignorance does not always lead to a better happiness, nor does it always lead to a lesser happiness. It all depends on the situation, and the subject(s) that will be effected the most if they step out of their ignorance and see the light of truth.
2006-11-16 23:40:36 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that first you two must agree on what happiness means. If the person you're trying to explan this to believes that happiness does not include suffering, then he truly has no idea of what happiness means.
I agree with you in that one cannot attain happiness without knowledge, and knowledge is another thing that needs to be defined. And if knowledge brings any sort of pain it would only be because it hurts to see how wrong one is.
Know that one is wrong would in hopefully lead to change, and thus lead to happiness.
I can keep going but the whole matter is too complex.
2006-11-16 23:29:23 · answer #3 · answered by All_real 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course ignorance can lead to happiness. In fact, happiness is easier through ignorance. Ignorance and knowledge are just different degrees of awareness. Happiness is the acceptance of one's condition, and one's degree of awareness influences a person's perception, but not necessarily their ability to happily accept their status.
What ignorance does that knowledge does not is add a potential for loosing that contentment. If knowledge of something does not cause you to be less happy, ignorance can never replace that condition. But if ignorance is the cause of happiness, knowledge may interupt it. But until/unless it does, the happiness is genuine.
It's a good thing too, because every human has some degree of ignorance. If the presence of ignorance negates true happiness, no human would ever be able to be truly happy. And that would be a sad state of humanity indeed.
Many religions and myths address this. The biblical Tree of knowledge, Pandora's box, the flight of Icarus, etc., all point out how happiness is available through ignorance, and lost through knowledge.
2006-11-17 00:15:53 · answer #4 · answered by freebird 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wisdom does not bring pain. Wisdom, intellect, and intelligence...bring out a higher levels of expression. Unfortunately, few fly this high or go to these deeper levels. Is ignorance bliss....no. But they are to ignorant to know the difference. True happiness is a relative term...your question has to do with more the phrase "the grass is always greener on the other side." In short...we are all ships in a bottle...the fool, the retard, the master....we explore to our minds limit...happiness is up to you enjoying the voyage on the sea.....no matter how small an ocean is in this bottle. ps....can one man spend a lifetime contemplating the beauty of a single flower...while another contemplates the universe?.....it's just "scale"
2006-11-16 23:30:27 · answer #5 · answered by baron_von_sky 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How much are we truly ABLE to know? Won't we always remain in ignorance on some level? Therefore, any happiness we attain will always accompany varying levels of ignorance.
Paradoxically, the acquisition of "knowledge" often reveals to us our greater ignorance.
2006-11-17 03:38:23 · answer #6 · answered by Foolhardysage 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Happiness is the absolute absence of misery. Nobody is absolutely ignorant.
2006-11-16 23:33:25 · answer #7 · answered by mrquestion 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It can..George W. seems happy enough..I am happy, and every day I find that there are more things that I am ignorant about than there was before.
2006-11-17 00:19:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Stupid is as stupid does"
Ignorance is not knowing, not knowing leads to all kinds of terrible things depending on what isn't known.
Especially not knowing deep down inside yourself that we/you are all part of the same Being !
Truth is knowing, ignorance is stupid.
Hope I helped you explain,
Jonnie
2006-11-17 00:01:26 · answer #9 · answered by Jonnie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Happiness is subjective, and ignorance is a perception.
2006-11-17 00:04:19 · answer #10 · answered by IElop 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋