Olivia Zimmerman ‘29
Staff Writer
I’ve never been afraid to say it: ignorance is bliss. Unfortunately. Many times the solution to diminish nervousness and distress about the state of the world is to simply turn a blind eye. To exist as a carefree entity, as though there are no problems shrouding our view of a blissful universe. Because if you don’t know about it, then it isn’t there. Right?
It doesn’t surprise me that people find the “ignorance is bliss” way of life so appealing. For one, media sources are breeding grounds of misinformation and fearmongering. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen TikToks proclaiming that World War III was about to emerge or that an epidemic was on the cusp. Take the hantavirus scare, for example. My phone was flooded with people saying this would become a COVID-19 situation—but worse. To be frank, I was pretty terrified. With that being said, one search on Google told me that hantavirus didn’t pose a severe threat; however, what I heard couldn’t be taken away. The fear was already implanted in my mind, and fear is certainly not easy to weed out.
With this, I am reminded of the classic philosophical question: if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In this context, it begs the question—if something is not a part of your individual conscious experience, does it exist? Of course, this cannot be answered by a simple yes or no. There is nuance involved, and it would take much longer than a single article to delve into. That being said, it has relevance to this conversation; can we get rid of the problems in the world by simply avoiding the knowledge of their existence?
Perhaps. But does that mean it’s right?
I think the ‘ignorance is bliss’ mindset is actually quite a dangerous way of viewing the world. With the invention of an easily accessible internet, we have information about nearly every place at our fingertips. It is our responsibility to be educated about these problems, even if they do not necessarily pertain directly to us. This doesn’t necessarily mean allowing ourselves to be overly stressed about worldly issues, as we have to understand that there is only so much we can actually do about these problems. Still, being educated allows us to experience empathy and support change in necessary departments. I believe that striking a balance between being well-educated on current affairs and allowing this information to consume one’s thoughts is so important, especially in this age of the internet and worldwide accessibility.
When I think of accessibility to information, my mind immediately goes to the news. Truth be told, I don’t like watching it anymore because everything just seems so depressing. I think the way news is conveyed nowadays is contributing to the increasing prevalence of ignorance. Everything is so bleak and pessimistic, but that’s what gets viewers’ attention. I think it would be beneficial to reshape the way news is presented. The perpetual waterfall of negativity is suffocating; why would anyone want to watch it? Of course, there is no world in which the news has only positive information, but perhaps a greater balance of positivity and negativity as well as less bias would encourage more people to watch the news and be more in touch with the happenings in the world.
I do think it is unfortunate that we live in a world where there are so many horrible things happening that we would rather simply not know about them than know and be depressed. But it is simply the reality we live in. That being said, I do not think ignorance is the answer. Our world can be bleak, but it can also be very beautiful. Oftentimes it is through being educated about the struggles happening around us and standing up for what is right that we can appreciate the good. After all, good can blossom from the bad, but how can we begin to plant the seeds of hope and righteousness if we don’t know where to start?
Copy edited by Eliza Martin ’30
Featured image courtesy of LinkedIn
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