Is Ignorance Really Bliss? Unpacking Common Myths

Peace, peace, everyone. It's your girl, Skoya Blue. Hope everybody's doing all right.

We are ending. This is the last day of January. So to me, January went by fast. A lot of people said it went by too slow. But I mean, went by fast to me because there's so much to do with so little time and there's so much going on in the world. So, I mean, we're in crazy times. So just stay positive out there and keep your head on the swivel. That's all I got to say because these times are, we don't know what's going to happen next four or five years.

So just try to stay positive as much as you can.

But, and that's a good segue to talk about how ignorance is bliss. Like, it's crazy because there's a lot of people that don't even know what's going on in the world right now. They don't know about the news and stuff. And I think it's cool to be in bliss, a state of not knowing anything and being in this different world. But I think you need a mix of both. Because if you don't know anything, how are you going to be ready?

And you have to stay ready so you don't have to get ready. And if you don't know what's coming, then what do you do? And, you know, when I was in my early 20s, I used to think everybody just knew things. Everybody just knew everything, you know. And as I've gotten older, I've realized a lot of people don't know what the heck is going on. And the other day, it wasn't yesterday, I just watched a video of this young lady that graduated from Harvard named Sharithi Kumar.

And she was talking about, you know, there's power in not knowing, you know, because you can figure it out. Basically, like, you know, she said when her parents, when she moved to, well, she lived in Nebraska with her parents and she was trying to go to college. They were like, she didn't know how to apply for college enough. And her parents, she asked her parents, like, well, how do I apply for college and stuff? Like, what do I do? And he said, I don't know.

And a lot of times a lot of people They'll say they don't know and don't look it up or maybe don't understand what they looked up And don't ask questions to understand it and I think we're in a time where. It's important to do the research and be kind of curious and be sort of nosy, if you will. Because if you're not, then it's causing us to not get better and grow.

So that's why I had to do this show and talk about how ignorance is not really bliss, but it can be bliss. So first, let's unpack the phrase itself. Ignorance is bliss comes from a poem by Thomas Gray in 1742 and is stuck around for a reason. The idea is that sometimes not knowing something can spare us pain, stress, or anxiety. Think about it. When you were a kid, you probably didn't worry about bills, deadlines, or the state of the world.

We just lived in the moment. That's the essence of this idea. Sometimes not knowing can feel like a gift.

Now here's the thing when I was a kid I definitely was worried about stuff you know I don't know I was maybe before my time but I always was stressing about stuff because as a kid you I mean I was bullied I was picked on and also I was trying to do well in school I thought I had to get you know I'm trying to get good grades to go to college and stuff so I had different type of stress and some kids maybe did maybe they had a better situation where they were chilling and stuff like that

but some kids was extremely stressed and rather be an adult at this point, um but it's still there's still some innocence when you're a kid though it's still like this, world like everything is at your your feet everything's anything could happen you know it's just this childlike innocence that that you know we all should keep you know as adults, so let's play devil's advocate for a minute is there a case to be made for ignorance,

absolutely for example think about spoilers for your favorite tv show or movie do you really want to know the ending before you experience it? Probably not. That knowledge can ruin the excitement, the suspense, the emotional journey. Or consider relationships. Sometimes not knowing every little detail about your partner's past can actually help you focus on the present and build a stronger connection. That's true. I mean, in a relationship, sometimes you don't want to know about

everything. I mean, because it might be like, oh, man, I got this prince charming or this perfect lady. And then you find out the truth. You're like, God dang. Now, for me personally, I want to know from the jump, like, what's going on with you? And that's why I created Dating Assassins. Shameless plug. Check it out, datingassassins.com. But that's why I created that for people that just don't got time to waste and want to know the truth.

And then there's the big picture, the news. Let's be honest, the 24-7 news cycle can be overwhelming. Constant exposure to tragedy, conflict, and negativity can take a toll on our mental health. Sometimes stepping back and choosing not to know everything can be a form of self-care. Yes, I mean, I think there's times where, you know, you take a break from social media.

I know for a minute, sometimes I take a break from it, like where I just don't look at anything for a few days because it's just too much going on. And it's not just about the news and what Trump's doing or what this congressperson doing or this country doing. It's sometimes just, you know, you see all these people doing stuff and you get overwhelmed like, oh, I need to be doing this. I need to be doing that. I mean, it's get caught up. Sometimes you got to follow your own journey.

Of course, you got to focus on what you can do. And sometimes you get too hype when you're always trying to be in the know. So I think it's healthy to take a break and think things through, you know, so.

But let's not get too carried away. Ignorance might feel good in the moment but it's not always the best long-term strategy. For one, ignorance can lead to poor decisions. If you don't know the risk of a situation, you might put yourself in danger without realizing it. Think about health. Ignoring symptoms or avoiding checkups might feel easier in the short one, short term, but it can have serious consequences down the line.

And that's true because a lot of times people don't like to go to doctors and stuff. And I'm not saying I like to go to a doctor. I really don't. I just rather not, you know, but at the same time, I'd rather be ahead of the game than trying to catch up. You know what I mean? Like I'd rather know what's going on, get my blood work done. You know what I mean? Get everything checked. It's silly during these times because rather than or not, rather than research or not, there's a lot going on.

There's a lot of things that viruses like COVID is not gone and never left, which COVID exacerbates what you already have going on look it up all these things are going on and so you want to make sure you know you're getting checked out and it's young people too it's not just oh this person's over 30 so they got to. Things have changed. You got to, kids got to go doctor regularly. 20 year olds, if you're in 20s, you have to go because there's just more going on now than what it was.

And it's important to just know what's going on so you can prevent it.

So, and then there's the ethical side of things. Ignorance can be a way of avoiding responsibility. If we don't know about the suffering of others or the impact of our actions on the planet, it's easier to just justify doing nothing. But is that really the kind of world we want to live in? No, it's not. So where does that leave us? Is ignorance bliss or is knowledge power? I think the answer lies in the balance. There's a time and place for both.

It's okay to protect your peace by stepping away from information overload. But it's also important to stay informed, to face the truths that matter, and to use that knowledge to make better choices for ourselves and the world around us.

Maybe the real bliss isn't in ignorance itself, but in knowing when to seek knowledge and when to let go.

So I do agree with that like having that balance is important and I think that, If we don't if we don't look up what we don't know Then we can't grow and I don't think it's good to depend on anybody neither because anybody could leave at any time So you do want to research like I was listening to a podcast where David Banner was talking about how he used to depend on a lot of producers and other people to do some work that he needed done with his music or other things.

And he realized that some of the tasks he was giving to other people that he could learn himself. And he said a really good quote, you're a slave to what you don't know. You're a slave to what you don't know. And that caught me. I don't think that he means that we should do everything because that's just not, that's just impossible. Everybody can't do everything.

But there's some things that you can do on your own in the meantime until you get to that level where you can afford somebody to help you. Or you can work in tandem with somebody because you have more knowledge instead of just putting it all on one person.

So I think it's important to, it's better to know 30, 40% than knowing nothing at all of certain things. And that's what I've learned. I started to incorporate that into my life because in my early 20s, people used to tell me, focus on one thing, focus on one thing. And that's what I did. I did at first, you know, I just said, I'm just do music. I'm just do music. But you need money to do music. People understand that music is a business. It's not just, oh, I'm just going to, you know, do music.

It's a business and you have to invest. And if you don't want to get in a bad contract and be a bonehead, then you're going to most likely be independent, you know, unless you get a good contract, which some people are blessed to get, but some people aren't. So some people may not want to be in a contract. I've realized I prefer freedom. I like to do what I want.

You know, freedom is number one for me. I didn't know that in my early 20s because I thought that I couldn't do anything else because I was listening to other people. So anybody listening, like if you want to discover the things about yourself and other talents to either make an income or just as hobbies, there's nothing wrong with that. You know, I think that there's so much.

Like constraints on society where people assume that because they're doing this that you have to do it you don't have to do what everybody's doing or because that that's what they know it's all they know you might can handle more things so that's just how I look at it and and that goes back to you know ignorance is bliss but it's not okay so find the time to chill out balance yourself out, get away from the news and stuff and anything else that's overwhelming on internet.

And then also get on there and know what the heck's going on, you know, because you have to keep your head on the floor, but you have to know what's going on so you can be ready. Now, I want to hear from you. Have you ever experienced a moment where ignorance truly felt like bliss? Or maybe you've had the opposite experience where knowing the truth, even if it was painful, ultimately led to your growth.

Share your stories with me. You know, I'll future you on a future episode and we could talk about it. But if you like the show, please leave a review, share, subscribe.

It helps me grow. Let's the internet know, hey, people like her. And I'm out here to just challenge your perspective. That's what I do, challenge your perspective. So everybody stay safe out there and stay positive. Keep your head on a swivel and stay curious. All right. Peace. Be blessed.