there is a proverb "ignorance is bliss"
there is a question regarding this i came across...it is "if ignorance is bliss, why do we seek knowledge?"
can anyone give an answer to this?
2007-03-31 18:30:52 · 10 answers · asked by *~Hope~* 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Perhaps we seek knowlege when we already HAVE enough knowlege to know that we are ignorant - which renders us no longer ignorant... a nice paradox, no? :-)
2007-03-31 18:39:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ignorance in this proverb means an unintentional ignorance, like someone who is very naive about everything. He or she needs not worry about ethics, politics, life style, etc., and that's a bliss for that person because it takes the load off the person's shoulder to participate and solve problems.
On the other hand, someone who has the knowledge to participate and solve problems but holds back, is an ignorant, and that ignorance is not blissed by any social system.
2007-04-01 02:42:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because ignorance is not the same as cluelessness. The term "ignorance is bliss" could refer to a concious choice to not let knowledge or awareness of something affect your actions. It is a "bliss" to be able to completely turn off your regard or care for something.
Which on the other hand has - in my opinion - nothing to do with our desire to know and understand the world around us. I want to know everything, but would greatly cherish the ability to pick and choose when I let the knowledge that I have impact my thoughts and actions.
2007-04-01 01:41:26 · answer #3 · answered by Alex H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there are probably quite a few options, imo
here are a few of them...
1 - IF ignorance is bliss AND (we accept that) we seek to be non-ignorant, then it follows that we do not seek bliss
a little hypothetical imperative for ya
2 - it is not the case that ignorance is bliss, and we seek knowledge.
3 - it is the case that ignorance is bliss, but it is not the case that seeking knowledge removes our state of ignorance
4 - ignorance is not bliss, and we do not seek knowledge...
it depends on whether or not you want to accept that ignorance is bliss. if ignorance is bliss, then we do not seek knowledge, or if we do seek knowledge, then we don't want to be blissful
2007-04-01 03:53:02 · answer #4 · answered by Steve C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what would our options be? being ignorant forever. or living life the best we can even if it means it isn't always blisfull.
We all have different knowledge. For instance when my dad was dying, being a nurse, I knew it was a matter of hours. My mother just thought the strange breathing was allergies. So, she was in bliss, but that was short lived.
So, bliss can't last forever, when it comes to reality.
2007-04-01 05:23:43 · answer #5 · answered by clcalifornia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The truth is, ignorance is not bliss, it's a curse. We would much rather suffer the pain of knowledge than the torture of living in ignorance.
Ignorance is a dark cloak, whose shadow engulfs many ills: frustration, impatience and hate, to name but a few.
To think that one day we might realize that our whole life had been lived in lies is a torturous thought. It's hard to carry on living today, when we know yesterday was a lie. Knowledge forces us to change. Truth rings from a mighty steel bell, its reverberations can rip open the hardest of hearts and melt the most stubborn of temperaments.
2007-04-01 07:48:35 · answer #6 · answered by johndante 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If ignorance is bliss, knock the smile off my face. I believe knowledge is power and the ones that truly believe ignorance is bliss just want to avoid reality.
2007-04-01 01:45:29 · answer #7 · answered by salinger 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is in the nature of humanity to seek a greater understanding of the world in which we live. From Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Christian lore; to Pandora in Greek mythology; human curiosity has always been a driving force of our own impulsiveness, innovation, and, sometimes, of our own destruction.
You see, ignorance may be bliss, but in the words of Sir Francis Bacon, "knowledge is power". Without our inherent curiosity to seek for deeper truths and greater understandings, we would never have advanced beyond apes. Homo sapiens have been distinguished from all other animals on earth by our ability to invent and reason: to create tools, to harness fire, and to find our purpose in the universe. Through this capacity for thought, we have become masters of the Earth, more powerful than any other species, and even within our socieities, those with more knowledge - of religion, politics, law, or medicine, for example, tend to have an elevation of rank or privilege above those with less.
Just as Eve gave up her blissful existence in Eden in return for the power of new knowledge; just as Pandora condemned humanity to pestilence by opening the forbidden box; so we are all unable to escape the lure of new and hidden knowledge, and the quest to unravel the hidden mysteries around us.
2007-04-01 01:50:20 · answer #8 · answered by The Oracle 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To "Know" and to seek knowledge is to take responsibility, while
Ignorance is a choice,a willful neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge because with Knowledge comes power and with power comes responsibility.
Some people don't want that responsibility, they truly don't want to embrace life .
So "Why" do I seek knowledge? Because the only source of knowledge is experience. I want to experience LIFE
Sadly,I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance.
.
2007-04-01 03:12:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seeking knowledge will make us more ignorant .
2007-04-01 02:59:57 · answer #10 · answered by subra 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋