Ignorance is bliss

Ignorance is bliss

Two weeks ago we were on holiday. Sometimes when you’re on holiday you just want to relax and enjoy yourself. You don’t mind anymore about what’s happening in the world. You’re just having a good time. When you come back home, reality catches up with you. You learn about all that happened while you weren’t there.  In today’s world, the majority of the news is bad, sad or terrible. So you might be sad and think that you were happier when you weren’t aware of all those things.

According to me, that’s why some people choose to be consciously ignorant. I say that they choose it because in the age of information ignorance is a choice. If you do so, you try to protect yourself from the world by confining yourself in a bubble, you bury your head in the sand because you’re too frightened to look at the reality. You’ve the idea that facing the truth will be an extremely painful experience. Unfortunately, this is a fake bliss because you don’t live in the reality anymore, you just build yourself a child’s fantasy world.

However, being aware of the news, even if it is terrible, doesn’t mean that you have to bear the misery of the world on your shoulders. You’re not responsible for it. Knowing those things won’t make you unhappy if you don’t take them personally. You should be aware of what’s happening, otherwise you won’t have a real view of the world anymore and you may idealize it. That’s something dangerous.

In our societies being consciously ignorant is counterproductive for the interest of everyone. Today, our democracies require of their citizens to be involved in the civil life of their country through formal participation such as voting in elections for public bodies, in referendums, etc…  What are ignorant persons going to do?  Maybe they just won’t vote… but what if they live in a country like Belgium were voting is mandatory? They will have either to watch the news to get information about the different political parties or to ask their family and friends about their own choices. They are going to be strongly influenced in their choice by the media, their family and friends. They won’t take their own decisions with their own values. In a democratic society when someone’s choice is influenced, the results of the vote aren’t fair anymore, the democracy isn’t representative anymore.

That’s why it is important for our societies that everyone has a critical mind to not let themselves influenced and be able to make their own choices; that everyone takes their civic duty seriously and has a role in society; and the most important of all is that everyone is aware of the news and tries to understand the world and our societies, because as sir Francis Bacon once said: Knowledge is power. It doesn’t only concern people who are ignorant, it also concerns you and me.

If you are wondering how to have a critical mind, stay aware of the news and try to understand our societies. You can watch the news, that will be a good start but we also have the chance to be in a school were several activities are accessible to us such as KRAS, EYP, LIMUN. More than a few people will get access to it, look at what we’re going to do in geography, we are going to make a kind of COP where every fifth grade student will take part in. You’ve lots of different options.

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