Happy or knowledgeable?

This is a question that will surely make some of us twist in distraught.

As you can see today, we have many people who are happy going to work, eating their food, going home to their family, and sleeping. Thats that. That is their life, and that is all they think of. That is the road in life they set down.

We also have suicidal, depressed people. People who no matter what they do, feel that life is worthless. Could be a million dollar sports player, or a bum on the street.

There are many other types of people out there.

Another group is the curious group. I would label many of us as that. We are here on ATS in search for more knowledge. We are here to argue, debate, learn, and be fascinated. We do not like living in secret, so knowledge if power for us.

Then again, there are those who do not care what is happening in the world.

Ignorance is bliss.

My question to ATS is this...

Would you rather be ignorant of reality in terms of what is happening in the world - but happy ALL the time...

Or would you rather have ups and downs, but know and understand the operations of the world?

The reason I ask this is because of one main reason. We all do things to please ourselves, just like coming to ATS.

Another saying..."Whatever floats your boat". In reference to that, why wouldn't we always want our boat to be "floating"?

Elaborate?

In my current state of mind - I would want to say that these are the people that hurt this world at times. That the people that are always happy, but not helping the problems in the world are selfish. To me - it sounds like an illusion. But does it matter if you are ALWAYS HAPPY? I am not talking about a fake sense of it....but actually happy. 100% of the time.

Speaking from an outside view, I would want to always be happy with no problems. A "perfect" life. A life free from stress.

Could people already living such life's be the reason we have distress in ours? Is that why we want to bring down such leaders and "corrupt" millionaires?

I don't find a lack of understanding to be at all blissful. In fact quite the opposite. If there's one thing that will frustrate me it is when I don't get something. I have an innate desire to 'get it'. And when I can't, I don't feel fulfilled. To me, happiness truly is a sense of fulfillment that can come from circumstances both pleasant and unpleasant, easy and difficult.

I'd rather be reasonably content and aware than ignorant and mindlessly pleasant.

reply to post by FritosBBQTwist


what would you have us do? run around and be miserable all the time? I for one AM a Happy person. I do not feel I add to the problem as you speak of...Ignorance is not a part of my agenda, but what is it EXACTLY that you would have me do? run around here on ATS wallowing in the muck of self destruction? EXACTLY HOW is it that I am adding to the problem? I contribute to my local food bank and put money in the bucket coming out of stores as well as helping a person in need if I come across them. Why spend my limited time here on this earth being sad or angry-You only get one shot at your life...(if you don't believe in reincarnation as some do) It seems to me that the self destructing naysayers are the ones who add to the problem if you ask me...think about it...Are you just in a bad mood today frito? This is definitely not meant to be a mean post, just a little startling to hear that happiness adds to the problem...My answer is this...I AM VERY AWARE of the problems in the world, and have done everything to stock up, be prepared, and help my neighbors when and if needed, but I AM still a happy person--why would I WANT to be miserable all the time over these trying times? I am not sure I completely understand what it is you are trying to say? Maybe I am just reading and interpreting your thread wrong? For whatever reason, you seem put out, and I really do hope things go well for you!!-Yep, that's me...a positive approach

It is an IF question.

You two are not understanding me.

Ill rephrase it, even though some of the meaning from my original question will be chopped off...

Would you rather be happy 100% of the time and not know anything, or know everything but be miserable all the time?

Happiness is the ultimate pursuit of anything you do. To actually have such a feeling all the time sounds impossible, so it is only a question of thought.

I am sure you have said to people "As long as you are happy...etc".

Are you saying that being 100% happy is bad?

I am just curious on what some of you think.

I would you rather have ups and downs, but know and understand the operations of the world. I would choose that because nothing is worse than ignorance. Sad and knowing is better than happy and dumb.

I don't care much about what is going on in the world. I don't care who is dying. I just want to know more. I cannot stand to have knowledge unavailable to me. Happiness does not depend on ignorance, thankfully. You can know all the horrors of the world and still skip rope and blow bubbles everyday.

The way I see it, people who would willingly choose to not know and to not understand are not even persons at all. They are bodies without a purpose.

Having spent the better part of my life worrying over the size of my butt and how white my teeth were I can tell you that worrying about the world and what is going on today distresses me much less. Plus it helps me worry less about the before-mentioned preoccupations.

Good question.

When I was younger, I'd chose ups and downs and understanding the world around me - mainly because I was so darn depressed that I couldn't quite "get it" like the happy people did.

I thought understanding would make me happy.

It did, for a while, and now I'm focusing all my time and attentions taking what I KNOW and trying to be happy and content in light of it.

So I guess I'd have to say, Knowledgeable with Ups and Downs, but Happily Ignorant about not knowing anymore than I already do.



[edit on 2/28/09 by GENERAL EYES]

Just by the posts so far...it seems that happiness isn't the ultimate destination?

If I had to make a choice right now, I would stick with my life as well, to tell you the truth.

I have heard the argument (that I have also supported) that every single action done is for one self. To not accept a life of bliss, and rather take a life of knowledge with emotional distress - is there something "greater" than happiness itself to say?

The idea that self pleasure was the driving force of EVERYTHING, could that be false? Perhaps unification is superior? Even if we are unhappy, is the biggest driving force of us to excel our species instead?

It is sometimes hard to express thought so I hope that I am coming off clear.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
The idea that self pleasure was the driving force of EVERYTHING, could that be false? Perhaps unification is superior? Even if we are unhappy, is the biggest driving force of us to excel our species instead?

It is sometimes hard to express thought so I hope that I am coming off clear.

Or that "unhappiness" could be selfish? People can desire knowledge and the burden that comes with it so that they can have things the way they want. I want everyone to just be happy and get along and all that fluffy stuff but only because it would be more convenient for me. It's long term self-interest.

Personally, I would rather not know. Ignorance is bliss on occasion. It is when I find out I am ignorant that I really get upset. Then again pretending you know what you need to know is nice. I don't usually go looking under rocks unless that rock is acting suspicious.

I would rather not know I am draggin toilet paper on the bottom of my shoe, it's when someone points it out that the moment becomes painfully unhappy.

I come here because you good people turn over the rocks I don't even notice.
And most times I see there is not much under there. So I go back to being blissful again.

[edit on 28-2-2009 by seagrass]

So knowledge and happiness are incompatible, eh?

Anyone care to explain why?

Originally posted by Astyanax
So knowledge and happiness are incompatible, eh?

Anyone care to explain why?

Never said that.

I find myself to be quite happy, and I find myself to have a decent amount of logic.

All I wanted to know is if you had to choose - which one would you pick? So, it seems even if many of us were handed the choice, we would still refuse a life of ignorance, even if we are happy 100% of the time.

The answers I got didn't really surprise me...I always thought ATSers were smart people to begin with. I wonder what the outcome I would get if I asked friends and family.

We all realize a life of ignorance doesn't help anyone...so I just found it somewhat surprising that so many people would pass the chance up to live a life of pure happiness, but at the same time, knowing nothing.

The reason behind that is that I always thought that the motive of everything we do is just for self satisfaction, but if you had a ticket for as much money as you want, but at the same time you lose everything intelligent you know - so many of us would pass it up.

I know a lot of people that do not like things done for them...is it just human nature to want to do some sort of work and earn whatever is they are seeking?

Like I said...just a hypothetical question.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
Would you rather be ignorant of reality in terms of what is happening in the world - but happy ALL the time...

Nope. Being ignorant is selfish, meaning the person is locked in their happy state while others suffer. Just because they are happy doesn't mean others are happy for them.

Or would you rather have ups and downs, but know and understand the operations of the world?

This one is fun. It's like catching a big wave. Don't know when the big one will come but it's waiting. Can't surf on a straight line, ya know.

If I understand correctly, I think I could rephrase your question:
If we were offered a choice between living in a dream the rest of our life where we are happy or stay awake and face the real world, what would we choose? Of course you wouldn't even know you were in a dream, you would be in a Matrix type situation created by you, but you would be living out your wildest fantasies,etc. It may look like a very appealing choice to some, being blissfully ignorant, but I would rather choose living in the real world, learning how everything connects,feeding my curiosity, constantly expanding my mind.
So I think would rather understand the operations of the world.

But you never know until you are making you final decision....

I actually think he meant, would you rather be unaware of what's going on around you and be happy (but naive) or would you rather be aware and knowledgeable, but miserable due to life's downfalls, setbacks, etc?

That's how I perceived the question anyway, considering I've asked myself this a number of times.

The world is not exactly a place to be proud of. Granted, there are some wonderful things to enjoy, but there is so much more to bring us down.

For example, I'm an absolute nature nut. Yet being aware of how closed-minded we are to conservation of our many delicate species warps that love for nature, and just becomes depressing in the long run. This applies to so much more, that's just the best example I could come up with off the top of my head.

I really don't know if I would prefer to be happy or knowledgeable. I often envy those who are naive and ignorant, as they can live happily in a mad-gone world with little to no concern about all the problems we have to face.

However, I would never want to be one of them because they just contribute further to the problem. It's true that ignorance is bliss, but ignorance also helps a problem stay alive, and often even make it worse. I'm no genius by any means, but I will always admire my ability to see things for what they really are, and approach the world with an open mind. I don't know what I'd do without that ability, and I feel that the misery and depression that occasionally comes with it is a worthy price to pay for the gift of awareness.

However, to be able to see many of the problems in our world and know there is little to nothing you can do about it is a very crippling thought..

I'm quite content with dealing with the ups and downs. It's not a very happy life, but atleast I know what's going on.

Hope I answered properly? Or was that not what you meant?

OK, I'm thinking I get it now...miserable and knowledgable or happy and ignorant...hmmm...let's see after thinking on this for awhile, I would have to say ignorant and happy!! Let's look at a few things...knowledge first...what does it get us or rather where does it take us? Uhhh, maybe to the point we are in today? Look at what all these knowledgable people (bankers, politicians, scientists)have done(emissions, global warming from created man-made machines-cars,motors,things crashing above our heads, etc...)...yet I add to the problem?-lol...Nope, don't think so...I'd rather be dumb and start a fire with sticks then to have what we have today from all the knowledge of man only trying to SPEND HIS TIME creating more relaxing time for himself...created viruses in a lab, just look around at what knowledge has done for us...ooops, I mean to us...yep!! Ignorance is bliss it kept man in survival mode which is what I keep reading on this site about survival strategies people are trying to GET BACK TO....Worrying about how to clean up something we created to begin with...What a mess knowledge has made in the name of progress!!!

reply to post by rockhndr

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this statement. You're mistaking knowledge with a desire for progress.

It's science, and the need to improve ourselves as a race (whether or not these improvements are beneficial or not is debatable, but by what I can tell we agree on this factor atleast) overpowers simply knowing all that we can know.

There are some things that can't be solved by experiments. Atleast not solved without causing some significant damage. Scientists do not realize that. However, to be knowledgeable does not make you a threat to our world. It just means you are aware of what is going on. By expressing your dislike in how intelligence is misused, you are displaying that you are knowledgeable and have an understanding of what's going around in the world. But are you guilty of anything you're accusing them of? As far as I know, you're not. Knowledge and Scientific Progress/Testing are two pretty different things.

I'm having a hard time with all these statements you are making here...

Why do i have to choose between happy and ignorant or depressed and full of knowledge??
I, myself, am very happy with my life. I go to work, come home, play with the kids, love my wife, go to bed / log on to ATS....

But i do not feel like i'm ignorant?? Like i said in many other threads, good luck seems to like me and follows me around were ever i go....

Now the only reason that i'm happy and seems to have good things happen to me always lies in the fact that i DO NOT expect anything out of this life!!(other than the sun rising in the morning and oxygen being availible )......what are your expectations??

I DO worry about current events and like to learn as much as possible in this lifetime.

But no the boat doesn't always have to be floating!!..seems to me now and then you would like to get out of the boat and have a nice swim if the weather is right....

Peace

[edit on 2/3/2009 by operation mindcrime]

This isn't a debate topic...OP just asked whether knowledgable and miserable or ignorant and happy...I would choose ignorant and happy--just a simple answer to a silly question...MY FINAL ANSWER...