“IGNORANCE IS BLISS”

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #302

When I was in college I belonged to a group that sponsored weekend retreats to the mountains to discuss various topics. So for one of those retreats they adopted my suggested topic, which was “Ignorance is Bliss, ‘Tis Folly to be Wise.” And the weekend was a success. But what does that really mean? The significance to me is that if you really pause to consider issues life can be confusing, frustrating and overwhelming. But if people blissfully goes through life simply accepting other people’s directions and thoughts without question, those people can feel comfortable and even righteous by “belonging” to a group. (It’s kind of like “Group Think.”) Of course, the danger that likely will occur is that those people will be taken advantage of, and also that they will soon lose their Liberty.

How do you feel about this issue? As I have quoted before in this series, Thomas Jefferson once said “If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” So how are we doing as a country guarding against ignorance? My view is that we are doing increasingly poorly – and this deeply worries me! And along the way we are increasingly becoming polarized and fearful. Why? Because, politically, keeping people tribalized and fearful works. Thus “If you agree with me, you are righteous and good. But if you don’t agree with me, you are misled and even evil. Of course, this also means that you should be shunned and not even allowed to talk.” This is otherwise known as the “cancel culture.” Have you seen all of the defriending, blocking and name-calling that are going all over our country today? In many cases they are sponsored by cable news networks in addition to charlatans and politicians. And what can be done by this situation? My attempt to combat it was to have founded www.Pro-JectUnderstanding.com which, as I have written recently in this series, focuses upon the things we have in common with each other. Please visit this site and help us spread the word. I think Thomas Jefferson would approve and even be pleased.

Question for the week: What do you call an animal that has a nose and nothing else? (Don’t say “ugly” because that would be cheating. . ) Answer: Nobody Nose.