"what you don't know can't hurt you."
agree or disagree with the statement?
2007-04-07 00:03:09 · 23 answers · asked by k8ieboi 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
i disagree,,,,,,, if you dont know your spouse is cheating, you could be saved from having your feelings hurt and being upset, but could contact a deadly disease
"what you dont know cant hurt you" --often implies the sparing of hurt feelings,,,,,,, but it often catches up with you later
2007-04-07 00:20:14 · answer #1 · answered by dlin333 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Agree to a point... Like a children growing up... they have no fear because they do not know and haven't experienced the effects of their actions they have yet to take on. So it gives them the edge ( the courage ) and ability to take on and try new and adventurous endeavors and enrich their lives..., BUT, in the same instance it can be very dangerous in the same way in the fact that they DONT KNOW any better of ALL THE DANGERS that lye within the actions they take. Its a double edged sword if you will.
I DisAgree this way..., Just because you might not know of what hurtful things that someone or something is doing because your not experiencing it physically or psychological... it can be damaging and effecting a persons over all life growth and well-being...
For example... Someone that you have slept with having AIDS and not telling you... You now have contracted AIDS or HIV and don't know it and that has prevented you from taken immediate action to fight it at the outset and also has affected your life expectancy and may have to change the way you live your life and also the lives of the people around them.
2007-04-07 11:25:34 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Psychologically, I agree.
Perhaps it's better to say "What you don't know hurts you less."
Here's a scenario that demonstrates my point. Back in the olden days, a person gets cancer, but doesn't know it and never finds out. Although he's negatively affected physically (he dies eventually), he's optimistic to the very end despite his weakening body because he feels he lived "long enough" (that, or God willed it) and is content to die of "natural causes." Nowadays, the guy would find it he had cancer, and would probably immediately think of it as a death sentence. Death would not be from "natural causes," but from cancer!
In both cases, the source of harm (cancer) hurt the person. And yet, the psychological hurt was greater in the example of the person who was aware of the source than the man who wasn't. So, to answer your question, "what you don't know can't psychologically hurt you" would be a better and more accurate description.
Bottom line - It's better to know the truth. As others have observed, in sparing one's feelings, one's physical safety is not assured. And sometimes ignorance just delays the coming of the blow.
Note: One might argue that the less the psychological hurt, the less the physical hurt as well, since science has proven a link between the mental state and the physical.
2007-04-07 08:08:36 · answer #3 · answered by tigertrot1986 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have always heard this statement in reference to someone who is spreading a tidbit of gossip or news about someone. Usually, it is one of those things said in whispered tones and behind one's hand. (for instance: "Sara should have been awarded the 1st prize, but since she was given another award, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.")
Obviously, if I don't know not to enter a room full of radiation or smoke or something, and I enter that room, I will suffer the consequences. So this can be a true statement or an untrue statement, depending on the situation it applies to.
2007-04-07 11:02:36 · answer #4 · answered by nowyouknow 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Disagree.
2007-04-07 07:45:47 · answer #5 · answered by flieder77 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about choosing both "Agree" & "Disagree"?
IMHO, It depends on the context the phrase is used.
What you don't know can't hurt you is true in: a wife who don't know that her husband is cheating on her won't have her feelings hurt - yet.
What you don't know can hurt you is true instead in: a kid who don't know that a particular color of the traffic signal lights means "Do Not Cross" can get hurt if he/she dashes across a road full of speeding vehicles.
Same goes for "Truth hurts" - the opposite of "What you don't know can't hurt you".
And so is it the case in Love for "Absence makes the heart fonder" and "Out of sight, out of mind".
2007-04-07 07:24:40 · answer #6 · answered by Bugsy Q 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with what you don't know can hurt you. For example if a child doesn't know when they run out into traffic they can get hurt. What they don't know can't hurt them. If you don't know how to deal with things in life, or how to stay safe then you can be hurt.(or killed) So I agree what you don't know can't hurt you.
2007-04-07 07:10:08 · answer #7 · answered by jcanime@sbcglobal.net 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This depends on the fact that you only care about the practical side of life, just in how things happen. However if you hold internal principles, it is important to uphold them regardless of this. Whether it is 'hurting' you or not, it is still the principle of knowing which should count.
2007-04-07 08:07:54 · answer #8 · answered by Cosmonaut 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree because I can get hurt and not even know it.
2007-04-07 09:48:01 · answer #9 · answered by retrodragonfly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
definitely i do agree with you.
but in the end, this is just a means of passing the bucket.
sooner or later the unsaid truth is gonna cave in and will bring one's upbringing down to restlessness.
2007-04-07 07:16:58 · answer #10 · answered by oscar c 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋