Where Ignorance Is Bliss Analysis

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise”. Extracted from Thomas Gray's poem, ‘Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College’, this adage is an existential conundrum ("the definition of ignorance is bliss", 2016) . While some reflect in ‘hear no evil, speak no evil’, my outlook on this is that it is exceptionally vital to live in knowledge rather than in ignorance. I believe that ignorance isn’t bliss, its oblivion. Mankind has been in the pursuit of knowledge since its evolution. Human beings have been bestowed with the thirst to progress and this is what makes us superior to all. Our intellectual prowess is what makes us the utmost powerful species. The proliferation of knowledge has helped developed the betterment of mankind. Ignorance
‘’- Confucius ,a Chinese philosopher (2016). John Locke, an empiricist, came up with ‘Tabula Rasa’. He compared a person’s mind to an empty slate. The reaction of senses is what attributes to the human mind, he said ("tabula rasa-philosophy", 2015,para 1). This stirs the question, if one is ignorant about the debauched, how can he differentiate it from the virtuous? Socrates too stood by the belief that "The unexplained life is not worth living". This was particularly relevant to Oedipus, a mythical Greek king of Thebes. Oedipus was ignorant about his birth status and rejected any truth that was said. Before finding out about this he lived in ignorance and was content. If Oedipus had continued living the way he did he would have lived an exultant life. But like a Socratic thinker, he ventured out to discover the reality because it was futile to be living in a world full of pretense. ("The Socratic quote in relation to "Oedipus the King"", 2016, para 3) Socrates ignorance was demonstrated when Socrates encountered with an eminent wise man. Nonetheless, Socrates deciphered that Socrates himself was the wiser one. Socrates did not claim to know what he didn’t know; hence he was the wiser one ("Socratic Ignorance", 2016,para 1). Plato too believed in a “conscious positive stand “, which meant that incredulity is originated on one’s comprehension of his own ignorance (Pigliucci, 2012,para 3) . Plato also
Illustrated in his book, “A theory of justice”, he states that the veil of ignorance is a stratagem that can assist a person to extrapolate the morality of an action("Review on JSTOR", 2016, para 5). For a decision to be justified the person enforcing this is required to envisage the implications of the action from the perspectives of other individuals. If a person was incompetent as to their position in a society, be it social or a political environment, their judgments would be based on the least benefitted individuals kept in mind. Chances are they could be one of them ("Review on JSTOR", 2016,para 5). For example, while setting taxes, a veil of ignorance should be used in order to cogitate upon the perspectives of both the affluent and poverty-stricken. The rational ignorance theory too reinforced ignorance ("Rational Action Theory for Sociology on JSTOR", 2016, para 3). This theory came to a conclusion that sometimes the struggle necessary to imbibe knowledge outweighs the benefit that knowledge has. For example, a student who comes from an underprivileged family can still grow up to be unemployed and furthermore get into a student debt. However the veracity of this theory is questionable as acquiring knowledge can never be a waste of time. Knowledge will always serve fruitfully in one’s life. When to be ignorant is circumstantial. Children are