Ignorance: Happiness Or Not

Do you think ignorance gives happiness? Surely you've heard this type of funny trivia questions or this phrase more than once. And surely you've also wondered if you really want to know the answer to that question that tormented your head. Many times we face the dilemma that none of the two options convince us. When we want to know something, knowing that it will hurt, we do our best to find an answer. But there are times when we would rather not have found it. One of the greatest examples of this dilemma is found in the movie Matrix. The protagonist faces this decision: if he chooses the blue pill he will live in ignorance if he chooses the red pill he will know the truth, although it can be painful. The problem is that the doubt harasses you to take the next step and, when the truth is painful, you can not go back even if you want. This pain of knowing the truth is reflected in Cifra, also from the Matrix movie. He is one of those who chose the red pill and is able to betray his entire team in order to return to happy ignorance. In our day today, we live overloaded with information, headlines and news that usually lower our mood. Negative news creates much more attention than positive news, so they abound on the news. How many times should you have died according to television and newspapers? Take a look back and think about the Mayan calendar, bird flu, the third world war. . .

But the most interesting thing is that this information is not even useful. I know people who read the news every day and their life has not improved at all despite being very informed. This fact has been taken to the extreme with the advent of the internet and social networks. On the other hand, I have to recognize that, although ignorance gives happiness in the short term, in the long term it can be very painful. Perhaps if we had known the truth about that relationship, we would have fallen in love before another person or if we had known the reality of that political party we would not have voted for it. Conscious ignorance is the refuge of cowards. Because it allows you to live the situations that will come from the role of the victim and not from the role of the responsible person who, in the end, is the one who can act to change a situation. As in so many things, in the middle is the balance. Good luck trying to walk by him, do not take false steps.