Gotta say, "ignorance is bliss" always meant to me that knowledge doesn't necessarily result in happiness. Ignorance may not be bliss, but it usually doesn't keep anyone from it--a good thing for those of us less gifted with cranial capacity.

if these are ugly truths that we must face, must we therefore act based upon them - sort of a non-concept dogma?

it's hard to say whether we should act based upon these dirty truths.

perhaps, the proper way is to live in transcendence of these rules--i.e. to keep up with an idealistic conception of life.

the way I manage these truths is to just keep the rules in mind when making decisions. I waste too much time agonizing over the idea that life doesn't amount to how I wish. For example, it's been bothering me lately how slippery time is, how I wake up at various moments and my past has completely transpired, and how I am being shoved into the future until death (or some Eschaton). Or, in simpler terms, that "life is short."

My motivation for initating this list is part of my attempt to "marbelize" by fundamentally changing my character. The change I'm seeking is to install a sense of "self-acceptance" in me.

There's a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous:
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I've never been able to "accept" much about myself or life. I was raised and I perpetuated the notion that accepting any form of limit was a weak act of resignation.

I somehow ascertained, then, that self-acceptance was worth building into my character.

Plus there's so much good stuff I hear about "being yourself" or "knowing yourself" or "accepting yourself." One of the concrete benefits being confidence and higher self-esteem.

We'll see where this goes. I've been on the trippy notion of "accepting the fact that I cannot accept myself" which kind of throws me into all sorts of recursive, neurotic nonsense.

To Eudaimonia and Beyond!

"accepting the fact that I cannot accept myself" - indeed, this is where I have come to in most of my endeavors. It's old adage, that for every answer there are two new questions. No matter how deep we penetrate any issue, or what we do to improve ourselves, our environments, our existence, there will always be an infinite number of steps before us. The process is one that never ends.

one must accept this, and many other paradoxes in order to live both a satisfactory and an honest life.

A Distinction I Made that Might Help:
A pardox is that which contradicts itself, and nevertheless is true. Hypocrisy is a man-made paradox, something that contradicts itself and is false. The task - to distinguish paradox from hypocrisy in all things.

Do we really want such things?

Are this truths really that ugly?

Or were they just constructed by our need of drama, of excitement?

Our need for the emptyness that drives our lifes in attempt to feel it.

As much as we hate to admit it, we love this game, and in those ugly truths all that it is reflected our wish to let it go on and on.

The only ugly, banal, truth is that happiness is boring.

The 20% rule -

20% of everything you do will be pointless and useless
20% of people you meet will despise you
20% of what you (think you) know is false
20% of your sense of self is deluded

...

20% of what you do will be worthwhile
20% of people you meet will quite like you
20% of what you think will be well-founded
20% of your sense of self will be reasonably honest

...

the 20% rule applies to everything

and there is nothing you can do about it

It's funny that you think you're an intellectual.

Michael, sweetheart, your 20% rule is 100% stupid. Wanna a rule? Don't make rules.

And as a last thing: ignorance is not bliss. Wake up.

I found this list quite amusing and at times I laughed out loud at my own disillusionment.

This is my personal belief. The more you analyze, dissect and experience, the less things seem to impress and bedazzle you. And one often loses their sense of wonder.

All I can say is that it's a delicate balance, like everything, too many questions = too few questions.

Kelly sweetheart his rule doesn't means that not everything you do turns out like you want it to do so it isn't "100%" stupid. He is actually correct. Everything you think you know is not right, not everyone likes you, and you're not always right. This would be one of those times.

Life has delt me many blows... You have got to have humor, you have got to be light, you have to believe that the government will not get you, even if you have(in your mind)done nothing wrong,they will try to get you and yours.
Hold on to the people you love with strong arms and never let them go.

Ray Bradbury~Fahrenheit 451~Page 157

"I hate a roman named Status Quo!' he said to me.'Stuff your eyes with wonder',he said,'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any made or paid for in dream factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to a sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day, every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,' he said,'shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.'"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ignorance -i-s- MAY be bliss,

but knowledge IS divine.

If you apply J. Krishnamurti's idea's about knowledge. The fact that Knowledge is merely a past occurance, a memory from the past, and that freedom from the "known" is essential for human progress and creativity. Then yes to "ignore" to reject the known to be free from the known is "BLISS" and Knowledge being a past experience can never lead you to freedom, because freedom is the present, the now, the what is, not the what was or what should be. Therefore, in actuality "Knowledge IS the key to sorrow" and "Ignorance is bliss"

I agree with an earlier post that more or less said focusing on all of these "truths" creates more negative experiences. Focus on all the simple, beautiful things in life and the magic will flow ever so abundantly.

"To waste the mind is a terrible thing".

Read some Emerson, Thoreau, or W. Clement Stone Maybe do yourself a favor and see the movie "The Secret".

It doesn't matter, some people would rather be ignorant and just like the pretty colours that the Television displays and others want to know that the tube shoots electrons at the screen making certain electrons light up in different colours. The same thing applys with life itself sure we could look at life and say that there is no point and that everything we ever do is a waste as we know what happens when we die, we die.
However others as you would all call the "ignorant" will go to school, get a job, make freinds, buy a house, a car maby even have children and just not care (be ignorant) that everything will end one day and there is nothing they can do to prevent it. Life is short don't sit around doing nothing because your going to die oneday and it will have all been a waste. If you enjoy life and make others happy then your time will not have been a wasted.
Enjoy life and do anything you ever wanted to do. Accept yourself and that death is inevitable that is the true meaning of life.
to sum up what i just said Ignorance can be bliss you just need to know when and how to be ignorant.

The phrase 'Ignorance is bliss' is normally intended to apply to situations where being ignorant of something is better than having knowledge of it. It is not normally used as a maxim or absolute truth - to entertain it that way seems beside the point. I don't think that a lot of people believe something along the lines of this: 'Being ignorant of most everything is blissful.' At least, not to the extent that it effects their life or the belief causes them to act on it and try to be ignorant. So, the author says 'If ignorance is indeed bliss...' - but I don't think this is relevant at all. People use the phrase, but this is different from believing it outside of context or living by it. (This is just an example, incidentally - the paragraph represents how one loses their sense of wonder.)

Everything in moderation.
Knowledge, and ignorance included.
Alcohol may or may not apply, depending on your capacity.

“Ignorance indeed is a bliss”.

Recently I moved to a small town, I’m used to listening radio stations from home to work. Music radio stations are the worst I’ve ever heard, so I turned to news radio stations in a period where politics in my country where the top stories. I usually don’t like to hear/watch any kind of news programs. And politic related news are the worst as I think of it as pure gossip. Must of them are gossip of another kind of celebrities… so I find CNN and E! to be basically the same.

Getting back to my point, I was “hooked up” in all this political gossip. Some days I had to stay in my car long after I got to the parking lot just to hear all this gossip. I argued with the radio, I felt shame of the country politics, get angry out of the car, etc, etc. All that worries because of some knowledge I didn’t have about politics. It was a bliss to not know about all that. And it is bliss now that I turn off the radio and hear music from my MP3 player.

Ignorance is a bliss. Knowing about stuff is frustrating, and it is more when people don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll keep getting frustrated with my knowledge on technology, but I’ll also keep my bliss of not knowing anything about politics.

ignorance is bliss. why do you think little children are happier than older children and adults? because they dont know all of the troubles of the world. they dont know when theyre at the park with their families they could be kidnapped or that their parents will one day die. they are ignorant of the troubles of the world and therefore blissful. ignorance frees you from worry. if you dont know something could be bad you have no reason to fear it and that presents the state of bliss and fearlessness. we must face the logical truth that knowing the truth of the things entails knowing the faults and unhappiness of things. thereby taking away any blissfull state. thats the truth.

Inconsideration is the general existential flaw.

Remaining ignorant is lazy and selfish, two of human beings most pronounced and common traits.

It is however, the duty of the ignorant to be at the very least, informed enough to stay clear of having a negative impact.

If you drive slow, know enough stay in the right lane. If you don't understand politics, don't vote, etc.

Misery is contagious.

Knowing your place in society goes a long way towards creating a pleasant existence for all.

Ignorance is bliss means to accept that which is held true by the majority or party in authority. You can never be wrong when in agreement with the previously mentioned groups. Truth is only true when validated by the whole. Even math is not a definitive truth as you mentioned in your list.

Alot of people think that between democracy and communist rule, democracy is the more free of the two. If you adopt the ignorance is bliss philosophy, you'll see that both offer equal amounts of freedoms just of different types. But democracy does offer the better of the freedoms (a subjective view).

Also adding to your "you can't change trajectory" is my saying "No one finishes life ahead, better off, or richer than anyone else. There are just different measures of wealth."

Sorry, my post is so cryptic but there is not way to explain it all in just a comment. Suggested readings: 1984 & Animal Farm both by George Orwell

its simple :P ....balance the equation ppl (for some hidden reason life is about Balance) ...too much ignorance is bad too much knowledge is bad/too fast for us To fully understand or rationalize...thats why we are too obsessed to live Normal life "balanced" prescribed by our ancestors which growing up I find their Prescriptions wiser everyday. Hmmm I smell bull :P. moving on, im still trying to balance the level of my ignorance/denial which turns out i have no control of ....unwillingly my mind for some hidden reason keeps analyzing almost every thing it stumbles upon and tries to rationalize it and link it to logic which itself along with my existence are illogical and unproven, combined with a lot of unsolved critical questions renders me confused and makes my head about to burst from frustration.

plz i need the black ignorance pill.

" There will always be a major distortion between what you know, what you will be able to communicate, and what people will then comprehend "

100% true… I like I really like……its one of major reasons im frustrated.

"Ignorance is bliss" is only a portion of the entire statement made by Thomas Gray in his poem. In fact, he clearly states WHERE ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. The reduction of the entire phrase to "Ignorance is bliss" completely alters the meaning of the phrase and places it in a context of absolute fact, versus one of conditional status.

Yes, I agree with many things the poster has stated on this page. I have often pondered many of the same enigmatic issues upon which much of life seems to be based. I know the urgency which the writer feels as they pursue the answers to all these questions. And I know the one question which sums up the real search by the writer. WHAT IS THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF MY LIFE??

Unfortunately, that answer must be found by each and every one of us - and until we find it, most of us cannot go forward in life. Those who never reach this point of self-discovery apparently are practitioners of Gray's philosophy - WHERE ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

is it better to live in truth or in happiness?
in emotions or rationality?

by accomplishing truth, what's next? what do we ultimately personally benefit. afterall we only have one life and one chance to live. its apparent that there isn't an established truth for anything. truth is what we make it. intellectuals are empowered yet cursed with the inability to extend a knowledge into the realms which only we know exist.

how do you know if its your conscience thats leading you or if you percieve only what you want to see?

you pose a false dichotomy. Nozick talks about the human need for reality. So I think a happiness instructed with reality is happier.

You could knock out part of your brain so that you ignore the infidelities of a lover. But the true knowledge that there is no infidelity would make you even happier.

then is it better to choose no happiness over false happiness?

yes, I think "false happiness" is asking for the feeling of happiness without any real reason to be happy. The felt qualities of happiness, i.e. the symptoms of happiness, are not actual happiness. They're just symptoms (elation, passion, pleasure, enthusiasm, etc.) of underlying true happiness.

I once took to measuring and manipulating my happiness levels by smiling more, by dating a girl that I only partially cared about simply because studies showed that you're happier with someone, etc.. and 99% of the time, in my diary-entries, I reported feeling "happy." But it was that 1% of the time, when I reflected on my condition (I was not in love, and I was smiling over nothing), that I felt suicidal and wishing to throw the whole lot away. Now, in that moment, I could've chosen to smile, and keep my mind busy so as to whisk away that feeling. And while I could've continued to feel happy, my body inevitably rebelled heavily against me and said "screw happiness (the feeling), what matters most is doing something meaningful!"

So, I think the thing to do is to understand what exactly IS happiness. It isn't just a feeling. It's a feeling that things are right and good.

very good post, i've wondered about the same thing and whether it is true or not. I believe however, intellectuals are safe because the more I learn the more I realize that I don't know. Every man is ignorant they are just merely at different stages of their ignorance.

I think we the intellectual are suffering from too much thinking because we haven't gotten rid of ignorance completely.we've traveled a path that we thought had answers and have been overwhelmed by its problems and gotten stuck.so in other words what happen is we come across something unsettling, we think about it, we investigate it,we find no answers so we become over whelmed by it,and as a result we feel sad.and at the same time we maintain interests common with the "normal/ignorant"person like having a good job a girl friend etc.but because of our vulnerable precondition that we have created we fail at those aspects and venture further and further in sadness.

If we are to seriously find answers then we must be critical of everything including our logic.or otherwise we must simply pursue our basic worldly desires of wealth,family etc..

To me as an atheist it was the second option that looked good after years of misery.for it had the most justification.as following that path meant that I will be working to satisfy my desires.despite this I couldn't help but continue my habits of thinking. so I had to seek some justification for it.This was made worse as one of my friends put it "don't take life too seriously....no one gets out alive". this was troubling because he made an excellent point.why make your life sad by taking on such hard questions when you are going to die anyway.why is such a quest important and does it have any significance left at all when u consider the aspect of death. even after this I still felt like finding some justification because I felt that my pursuit isn't as stupid as people would assume.because if we are to understand life we must question it.even things that seem obvious.

In my country Buddhism is quite popular so I decided to study their scriptures to get a different angle on the problem.The first thing I realized was that they share the same goal as me.however unlike me they had justification for it.while there methods of meditation were certainly impressive they had to believe in "reincarnation".With out this the pursuit of eradicating ignorance is irrelevant for we are all simply subject to death.this is my dilemma as theres no way of proving reincarnation. so no way to justify my goal.

so In conclusion I have to say this about the topic.I think ignorance is NOT bliss.The ignorant is unaware of the complete processes of pleasure and pain.The reason we so called "intellectuals" find ourselves sad is because we are STILL ignorant of these processes.Therefore reasons for the apparent difference in happiness between the so called "ignorant" and the "intellectual" is a facade.because both groups share the same fault. The reason for why the "ignorant" is more happy is simply because they are mentally more capable of pursuing their desires.as the intellectual sometimes find them selves in a sad cycle of mental complexes that undermine their potentials.Note this is not because the "intellectual" thought too much but because their pre-existing desires are not as well fulfilled.i.e desires not properly or relatively fulfilled = less pleasure felt. a process somewhat exclusive from the act of thinking.

So as I have mentioned earlier as an atheist, with out any scientific evidence it's hard to justify things with pure belief.Unfortunately uncertainty is inevitable! Even the Buddhist monks who pursue a life of ultimate truth(Buddhists question the most basic thing we take for granted which is the self personality) leads to justification for their means through faith(reincarnation). Until science takes its next large leaps as atheists all we have is the pursuit of our simple worldly desires.unfortunately still ingrained in ignorance this life style too is unjustifiable.without knowing everything we cannot have 100% conviction.even in something as conventional as the normal life or desires.What therefore needs to be done is an act of acceptance.We must accept our sad circumstances and chose the life style that has the best compromise.

for like my friend said

"don't take life too seriously....no one gets out alive"

sure the above comment despite appearance of obvious truth is still full of uncertainty due to preconditioned ignorance and lack of complete understanding.but that is the best compromise for today.But I for one do not regret a moment of my past horrors because this has been a learning experience and I believe that I have matured a lot from this.This whole experience has taught me how to cope with inevitable sorrows that exists and have over all made me a better person.well thats just my opinion.by the way very sorry if my comments don't make sense but trying to be logically consistent after staying up for a whole day is hard.lol. also thanks for all the people who made comments.

I'm interested in this idea of taking a philosophy and turning your life into an experiment for that philosophy. For example, you mentioned that you considered two paths: 1) be critical of everything including our logic 2) we must simply pursue our basic worldly desires of wealth, family etc. And you then said you lived the second choice out for a while. And from that experience you learned something. I think this process is something coherent and different. I know other people get caught onto various cults or become zealots for ways of thinking. But this idea of sitting back, considering philosophical paths, and then making a choice, is something I think is rarer. Perhaps, it is even more ascetic.

Philosophy is beautiful. Knowing you self is Important. Becoming a Doctor is beautiful an "Examined life", or a Ignorance Bliss? Becoming a firman is Ignorance Bliss, or an "Examined Life"? What is Philosophy? What is the point of Philosophy? Why is Philosophy Relevant to our daily life? For those who believe in God, did god give us the power to sit and think every move?(Examined life) or (Ignorance Bliss) and the same goes for Athus? My Belief, Philosophy is just a to waist your time and Mental Neutron, have you brain run around in circle so it can accecpt some basic fact about life. Wisdom should a term used in Philosophy, Wisdom is the Key over time you learn form your mistakes. Example If you give a needle and tell them to poke them self after the First time I doubt any of us would do it again. But if they do it again then its a mental Issue or a Mental Disturbance. The Ray Bradbury(157) quote up on of this Page I like it.

"what you dont know wont hurt!"

really? in that case why dont u share ur home address? so I can............ Mwhahahaha
meanwhile stay ignorant.lol

Surely intellectuals desires are more complex than the ignorant?

Your focus is on Man vs. Man.

I think most intellectuals assume that relationships between people are relative.

However, true intellectuals are always searching for Truth in Nature and the Universe.

In that case we are never in fear of "knowing too much" as there is so much to know.

However, one can imagine that it can be lonely at the top of the Knowledge Heap where almost every other person's viewpoint sounds tired and retrograde...

We are all ignorant, maybe this is bliss

"ignorance is the key to happiness because the more you know you are screwed." let's do a deep dive on this just make sure we are all clear given that philosophy, just like law, was made to be interpreted shall we?

Before getting started let me clarify that ignorance in my argument is defined as the simple fact that we will never know everything, and therefore we are ignorant of those thing that we don’t know, and those things that we know that we don’t know. all agreed? That being said… let's begin.

KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM. Socrates asserted that the highest good for any human being is happiness. (I think we can all agree with this given that my argument is simply stating that ignorance IS the key to happiness and not happiness itself which is the highest good for humans) Whatever action a man chooses is motivated by his desire for happiness. (Clearly here Socrates identifies individuality and the freedom to choose your own key to happiness. In this case my argument is that ignorance is the key to happiness - i.e. my motivation is happiness, therefore as my action I choose to accept ignorance given that I will never know everything there is to know) Knowledge, virtue, and wisdom are all the same, since man chooses an action according to what he thinks will bring him the greatest happiness (yet again, a man chooses what he wishes to bring him the greatest happiness… ignorance being one of the choices). Therefore the more a man knows, the greater his ability to reason out the correct choice (this is simply the second part of my argument the more you know you are screwed and hence you choose ignorance or not knowing more than is needed to be happy or as Socrates puts it you have a better ability to single out ignorance as a choice or not knowing everything there is to know to be happy) and to choose those actions which truly bring happiness to him. (finally, it is clear then that with a man's individuality and freedom to choose and according to Socrates, the more we know the greater our ability to reason out the correct choice. Therefore, we can continue learning for the rest of our lives, as we should, but we must simply adopt ignorance or the fact that we do not know EVERYTHING and will never know everything and be content with what we have and what we know and find true happiness that way. To conclude then, if we adopt such measure, we would have accepted the argument that ignorance, or the fact that we will never know everything, is the key to happiness. You can also choose knowledge or wisdom or the ability for continuous learning but reality dictates that you will most likely die and never know everything there is to know in order to be happy. The moment you realized that you know enough and are now happy you become ignorant of everything else that is out there to be learned. Therefore, you are choosing ignorance or limited knowledge and have by default agreed and accepted my argument. (All according to Socrates)
The next point is just too easy to argue based on my comments above but I will anyway…

SELF-KNOWLEDGE. The highest knowledge is possessed by that individual who truly knows himself. This knowledge constitutes ultimate wisdom. (Given that the highest knowledge is possessed by he who knows himself, once we realize that we will never know everything there is to know, and hence become ignorant to the rest and accept ignorance as the key to happiness we would have achieved ultimate wisdom… yet again according to Socrates) It enables man to act in a virtuous manner at all times, because he knows what will bring him true happiness. (Once we accept ignorance as the key to happiness and achieve such ultimate wisdom, we will then act in a virtuous manner at all times because we now know what brings us true happiness…IGNORANCE)

As children we are happy. This is due to our ignorance of the harsh and unforgiving world. As adults we become more enlightened, and inevitably more disappointed. This childhood innocence, comes from the rose-tinted picture of the world, which is caringly painted to us by our parents, by out teachers and by our aquaintances.
Our grandparents tell us that there is a loving and forgiving God. When these grandparents die, our parents will tell us that they are happy up in heaven and that we too will join them there one day. Father Christmas and the tooth fairy are also part of the enchanting world of childhood. If, as I believe, happiness is based on comparison to the past, how will I ever be happy again? What can be better than a jolly man in red who jumps down my chimney to give me presents every year? Or what more comforting that if I put my hands together every evening and appeal to someone called God, I can get whatever I want. With this magnificent myriad of myths parents are blindly leading there children down the path to future disappointment.
This universal method of parenting, consisting of kitsch stories, an all loving God, and no eternal death, is very old. Its foundations lie in a religious and not-so-enlightened society. Perhaps in the modern age, we should re-look at effective parenting, in order that our children have the opportunity for lasting happiness. By commencing life at a compartively lower level, in terms of materialist possessions and expectations etc, they would have much more room to expand into in terms of happiness. Maybe if out parents had not painted such a wonderful picture of the world, when we were young, we "enlightened" beings would have a much greater chance of bliss now.

dear mr. Philip Dhingra i wanna believe ur list but u hav a slight hitch.
u said that those r the dirty truth. but u also said that and i qoute: "There is no perfect truth (save for maybe Math)" and unless my 14 years of education is mistaken, those r not math.
then u urself had contradictd ur statements.
but i do believe most of ur statemetns, conditionally.
ur statement dat "There is no perfect truth (save for maybe Math)" is descartian. it is a preferd method of deducing truth
regarding the subject of your blog, ignorance is bliss. i think it related to the existential angst/pain. accordingly the more we know about the world, the more we feel free and alone. we are responsible for our actions as there is no more "omnipotent, divine, panacea."
lastly about your: "You will always be an agent of some evil." statement, i find it a hard to believe concept considering my morality has evolved from "dogmatism" to "relativism" as it is hard to base good or evil upon pre-ordained dogmas or popular social norm.

You = blank paper
Knowing = coloring

to ignore everything the paper will be colorless to know something the paper will be colored.

So does ignorance is indeed bliss?

The answer is depending on one who choose their path.

hmm wow..after i read ur post..its just a simple word that saying comes out of it said "imperfection".
and yet the nature is always perfect.

ur context is just define the word meaning of God itself.

intresting...

Atheists are too rational just like spoiled fruit is too ripe.

If ignorance is bliss, then I see a lot of bliss walking around.

Stop thinking so much and start fooling around. Make the ignorant people around you participate, then sit back and watch them do stupid things. It's funny.

It doesn't matter if ignorance is bliss or not. You ultimately have control. So stop crying like an emo puberty kid. Smoke some crack. It helps.

I agree and disagree with the "ignorance is bliss" philosophy. I have only recently come across many of the dirty truths you listed since I am rather young. Before I discovered this "intelligence" and life from this "intelligent" point of view. I used to be ignorant. I was happy, I had expectations, I seemed to live life to the full and smiled alot. Now that I am an intellectual I see life differently. I refer everyday life to these dirty truths and to be honest it depresses me. When talking about philosophy and the meaning of life and that the truth is no human being has a choice and that we are not in control I do feel my life is rather pointless. Also now I over analyse everyday situations and my actions and this causes confusion and frustration. By this I do agree with ignorance is bliss. Because when ignorant life means more to you. However when ignorant you are subject to your emotions alot more than you would be being "intellectual" because they would sort of expect the worse since they are aware that life does not meet your expectations or wishes. An earlier post mentioned infidelity. From an intellectuals point of view it would be seen as the usual selfish act from another human being. A cynical approach which some how prevents them from being hurt that their partner has cheated. an "ignorant" person would feel hurt. dissapointed. believe in love and that they have lost something that was a big part of their life. I suppose it is up to an individual which point of view they want to live by. I am not great at expressing my opinions using words but I hope this made sense.

I’m a big supporter of being educated and agree with what Thomas Jefferson said: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Not so blissful when you become a slave to your own ignorance. I also agree with Christ when He said: “the truth will make you free” (John 8:32 KJV)

Hope this helps with this topic on ignorance and bliss!