Do you think you would be happier if you were less intelligent?

Question

Sometimes, I feel like I would. Of course, you answer to this question is heavily dependent on your personal definition of intelliegence. To me, intelligence means the ability to learn new things and apply both new and old knowledge to solve problems. I like being intelligent, but sometimes I feel like I could be happier if I could just go with the flow and be less aware of my own ignorance, which catalyzes the desire to learn. How do you think and feel about this issue? Does ignorance and the abscence of doubt really equal bliss?

Answer 1

Life is a striving. With striving, there is unknown. With the unknown, there is doubt. Without doubt, there is hopelessness. No, hopelessness is not my choice because the journey never ends. Even if we seem to jumped off the train and let the whole stinking, huffing puffing monstrosity of human endeavor chug on by and disappear into a point on the horizon, there comes a time when we take our eyes off the disappearing train and look around. And, when we look around, the world there is just another train to ride. There is no lively escape from consciousness. But, the application of consciousness to better comprehend the world around us, to look more closely, to perceive more accurately, leads to bliss. Bliss comes only when we achieve even momentary harmony with the Universe, so to say. We pursue truth and reality and meaning, the crux of what true intelligence is, because, the closer we are to comprehending the world around us, the more harmonious we are with the ultimate harmonies. That lucidity, or harmony, is bliss.

Answer 2

The thing is happiness is a feeling. Ignorance is a fact. They are like apples and oranges they seem similar but are not in the same category. You can be very intelligent and immensely happy, or very ignorant and extremely sad. Possibly sad about being, " less than". Ignorance could cause people to seem happy due to their obliviousness or lack of knowledge. Sounds similar to denial. But bliss? Bliss is a feeling. Again comparing a feeling to a fact. No correlation. This concept of feelings being facts and causing behaviors happens, because people choose to let them happen. How you feel is how you feel. Sooner or later the feeling will change. They always do. How you act, or deal with a fact is a choice. Choosing ignorance (except as in mental illness) is adamant unwillingness to learn. Unwillingness is defined as reluctant, or loathsome. If I was loathsome i don't think I would be happy.
In the case of a mental condition with ignorance as a normal reality, bliss may be a result. You would have to find an appropriate person and ask to possibly get a answer, but if they were that ignorant they would be oblivious to the question. In that case they may be in a blissful state.
For me, if I choose to be happy, and then look for ways to be happy, and follow through with the action I will attain happiness Intelligent or ignorant. As I can occasionally be either, and have been happy or sad both ways.
So my answer would be NO! Except possibly in some cases of mental Illnesses.

Answer 3

Not really, I think we would be happier if we were intelligent at the right time and at the right place. From your information, I don't see why you should slow down your thirst for intelligence, please don't care too much with the public, I'm sure you know when to speak out and when not to speak at all. In short, happiness and intelligence are enigmatic and they depend on some certain contexts. Consult your good advisors/professors for their kind advice.

While answering yout query, the word 'greatness' popped up on my mind, have you heard this quote by Shakespeare?

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrown upon them." (Twelfth Night)

As for your last question, someone including me had answered on the matter weeks ago and I still don't agree since, I'm sorry, such ignorance and the abscence of doubt should equal stupidity, not bliss at all. We simply have bliss if we're well-informed and have little doubt as less as possible.
Take care and keep going!

Answer 4

I think the problem is that a lot of intelligent people don't have social intelligence. They can figure out the best way to load the dishwasher, but they have problems figuring out how to have fun with a group of friends.

Also, intelligent people tend to be trapped in their own heads a lot.

That said, there's a rush when you figure out the answer to a problem, and it's great when people look to you for advice and help. I think intelligent people who know how to use their intelligence to make their own and others lives better are actually very happy people -- (-: At least some of the time.

So, no, I don't think I'd be happier if I were less intelligent. I think I'd be happier, though, if I were more socially intelligent and/or outward focused rather than self-centered.

Does that make sense? (-: Maybe I'm not as intelligent as I think I am.

Answer 5

Wow Good Question....... No . ' Ignorance is not bliss'. I've seen
ignorance in a court room , and how a person REALLY needed to be Informed of the laws of society (it was a bad thing)...there was nothing 'happy' about ..that . I think some folks take 'not having to be responsible' or being lazy..;...as having bliss..... any way to answer the question ;..... I truly believe, that I , would be less happy if I was less intelligent. yes
ms.Kate

Answer 6

Yes. Ignorance is bliss. When you know too much it can be a burden, a responsibility & a lot of stress. Knowing too much usually means you think too much which can be a cross to bear. When your brain doesn't shut off, you suffer from insomnia & you can drive yourself nuts with worry & overanalyzing everything. When you don't know any better, there's nothing to worry about, nothing to think about. You're free.

Still, I'd rather know. Intelligence is as much a gift as a curse. It is a blessing as well as a burden. The thirst for knowledge, the desire to keep learning & growing keeps us alive. Otherwise you're like a zombie, slumbering through life...

Answer 7

I'll tell you that I had a perfect photo memory and graduated national honors society from BYU, then got very sick and erased my memory. had to learn everything again, now I am just average but can remember most of my past and I wish i never had the brain power to begin with because its so hard know, so I think that ignorance is not bliss, a dumbass would trade you places any day of the week, luckily I was serving my country when I contracted my illness so I am financially okay but I miss my challenges in life, I wasn't ready to retire, I hadn't conquered my Everest. Now I feel like a Seabiscuit who never ran the big race. Count your blessings

Answer 8

First of all, let me say that I agree with your definition of intelligence but I would never consider trading in my intelligence for anything less. I don't believe that the absence of doubt equal bliss because a person must think about the downside to that; what would happen in a state of emergency if someone wanted to harm that person and she wouldn't be able to read between the lines of another person out to harm him/her.

Answer 9

Yes, Ignorance is bliss. The less there is to know, the less there is to worry about. When you look at handicapped people, you don't see them crying everyday bemoaning their fate. On the contrary you will notice that they smile, they laugh, they cry...very much like those who are not handicapped. It is the perception of the able bodied that the handicapped are having a wretched life.It is the same thing with people who we perceive as ignorant. Come to think of it, I think the tragedy of my life is that I was born with some intelligence. Then I don't have to be aware of land grabs, social injustice, corruptions, thinning ozone, global warming, black hole....What a privilege it is to be ignorant.

Answer 10

Hello Plz Pay Attention..!!


Happiness or Joy is sometimes a blessing, but it is often a conquest. Our magic moment helps us to change and
sends us off in search of our dreams. Yes, we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and
we will experience many disappointments but all of this is transitory; it leaves no permanent
mark. And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken.



A magic moment is that instant when a "yes" or a "no" can change one's life forever....
You have to take risks, he said. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
Every day, God gives us the sun—and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day, we try to pretend that we haven't perceived that moment, that it doesn't exist—that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment. It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane , like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. But that moment exists—a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles

I Hope i Was of Help to you.. Bless You