So where does the saying "ignorance is bliss" come from? The internet tells me that it comes from Thomas Gray's poem "On A Distant Prospect on Eton College" with the line stating: "Where ignorance is bliss / tis folly to be wise." Now, ignorance means a lack of knowledge, eduction or awareness. [Merriam-Webster]. One implication is that we are or would be less stressed if we knew less or were aware of less. Well, if knowing something leads to feeling stressed then it might be preferaable to not know that thing. I feel that watching the television news can lead to stress and so not watching and can be less stressful. The stress from the television news can be related in part to the visual impact compared to listening to news on the radio.
I prefer to think that bliss [or at least feeling calm and not stressed] may be obtained if we are aware of and embracing the fact that we don't know anything. I had read that Socrates is reported to have concluded that the reason that he was the wisest person in ancient greece [accoording to the Oracle at Delphi] was because he knew that he didn't know anything. So is knowing that you don't know anything like being ignorant? I don't think so unless we define ignorance as choosing to be open to what happens and not thinking that we know things when we don't. Thus, knowing that we don't know anything, allows us to be open to new learning as once we think we know something then our brain will stop listening to what is actually happening and will instantly substitute what we think we know. Thus, if we are open to learning [know that we don't know anything] we will actually be able to listen and learn from others.
So, ignorance defined as knowing that we don't know anything [until we open our minds to others and listen to them] is desirable as it allows us to learn right now from others and from our experiences.
What do you think?