Ignorance is the Opposite of Bliss

It is your ultimate enemy

In the Biblical stories King Solomon was known for his wisdom.

Once two women came to his palace, each claiming to be the mother of the same baby. To deal with this heart-wrenching situation, Solomon proposed a frightening solution: to cut the baby in two. He said that each woman would receive half. This shocking idea was not cruel but insightful. He knew that the real mother, driven by her love for her child, would at once give up her claim to the baby.

It was a smart tactic.

Yet in another Bible passage, our wise king tells us that “in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.”¹ This is where I disagree the son of David. There is nothing sweeter than the joy of understanding, even if the truth is bitter. Would Solomon not have felt more grief if he wasn’t wise enough to handle the conundrum with the women?

It is by this logic that I twitch when someone laments they “know too much.”

Woe to them! If only they could return to the bliss of ignorance. Alas, they have become too wise. They are so well read, so learned, that they’ve became sophisticated to the point of suffering. We should feel sorry for the brave soul, bearing the weight of wisdom with such courage! Do they also want us to take a black and white photo of them smoking a cigarette leaned up against a light post? Looking into the distance? People will look at it and sympathize with the tragedy of their deep knowledge!

These types should save the poorly disguised self-pity. The first problem is that they do not know as much as they think they do. The second problem is it supports the ever dangerous message that ignorance is bliss. No. Ignorance is the opposite of bliss. It is pain. Ignorance is the best friend of poverty and the father of bad decisions. Ignorance is your ultimate enemy. Timendi causa est nescire.²

You might object, with some reason, that less knowledgeable people don’t overthink, that they don’t worry as much. When I hear this argument I imagine someone “blissfully” wiping toaster strudel filling off their blubbery chin while believing things they hear on Fox News.

There is a burden that comes with gaining knowledge. But despite growing pains, potential disillusionment, and an invitation to cynicism, becoming less ignorant makes literally everything in your life better.

It helps you take care of your body. It helps you successfully navigate social situations. It helps you develop your artistic taste. It helps you notice how many bad ideas, misconceptions, and defects you have. It helps you have a model of the world that is less wrong. It helps you orient your life around learning. 

In lack of wisdom is much grief, and he who fails to increase knowledge increases sorrow. 

1. Ecclesiastes 1:18

2. “Ignorance is the cause of fear.”

Seneca, Natural Questions, 63 AD