Kim Harrison once said, “Knowledge is Power. Ignorance is Bliss. But curiosity—even if it had killed the cat—is king.” It is one’s natural curiosity that leads them to make inquiries and investigate certain issues until they are satisfied with their research and the answers they have found. Nevertheless, common idioms such as, “Ignorance is bliss” and “Some things are better left unsaid” will conquer this natural curiosity when faced with controversial issues that directly contradict one’s beliefs and upbringing. When presented with these uncomfortable choices, one must decide whether to acknowledge different perspectives despite possible consequences or remain uneducated in hopes of maintaining the status quo. In the story, The Call of Cthulhu, the author clearly demonstrates that although we have a natural curiosity within us, sometimes it is best if we do not act upon it. Throughout the story, one learns that often times mankind can benefit from not knowing certain things that are occurring in the world. The author’s overall implied suggestion is that people simply cannot handle certain facts that conflict …show more content…
This belief and thought process is instilled in people through continued religious training, family upbringing, and often peer pressure from the public. These beliefs have been present for thousands of years and are the foundation of people’s belief in their God or Supreme Being. In actuality, it is one common foundation between the several different religions and/or cultures. Historically, this belief has played an imperative role in people’s decision making, survival, rearing children, and in some situations, the only hope that encourages people to fight through difficult times. To believe otherwise, shatters everything people have learned, believed, and even died for during the past hundreds of
It is crucial that every belief must be thoroughly explored and justified to avoid any future repercussions. Clifford provides two examples in which, regardless of the outcome, the party that creates a belief without comprehensive justification ends up at fault. It is possible to apply the situations in The Ethics of Belief to any cases of belief and end up with the conclusion that justification is of utmost importance. Justifying beliefs is so important because even the smallest beliefs affect others in the community, add to the global belief system, and alter the believer moral compass in future decisions.
In today's society our belief in god is often challenged and left to the strength of our faith, because of this many people experience a loss of faith. Faith is often challenged in situations such as Tragic events, Apathy and doubt, and the influence of relationships. These situations also affect certain age groups as children experience tragedy, teens and adults experience apathy, and young adults experience intellectual doubt.
Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He questioned the very nature of why things were the way they were, while never settling for simple, mundane answers. Socrates would rather die searching for the truth than live accepting what he considered a blatant lie. I like to think of myself the same way. I too would rather examine the wonders of life rather than accept what I am just told. The truth is some can’t handle the truth. I on the other hand welcome it with earnest anticipation and fervent enthusiasm.
We as humans tend to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. We look for knowledge about everybody and everything that surrounds us in our day-to-day life. Sadly though, we must accept that in the grand scheme of life we (as a society) tend to put pleasure above our quest for knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge tends to take time and energy, two things we call invaluable, and it also shows us things that might depress us. Contrastingly, ignorance takes no time and energy.
middle of paper ... ... Our curiosity is what makes our interactions interesting and entertaining. As members of society, it is our innate ability to wander further than what we have in front of us. We want to impose our opinions on everything.
Human beings’ belief systems don’t always work according to evidence. Belief is made up of
Humans are always reluctant to figure out new information and for this we have had centuries of incredible thinkers, artists, and musicians come about. Some have come across new findings by accident and others have worked their entire lives to figure out something to be remembered by. What makes human beings so distinguishable from other species is we have the ability to think and feel and with this we can act in a way that makes us a superior species. With this kind of view on the world we as humans are subjective to our surroundings and build a system of belief through our experiences. While human beings are all destined to be great at birth, the desire to know who we are, why we behave the way we do, what our nature is, and explaining the
Davis uses the word "messiah" in discussing the chupacabra because the chupacabra gave people something to relate to and gave them the feeling of familiarity,it also gave them something/someone to blame the attacks on their livestock and pets. The chupacabra might be considered a savior by the way it was a source of humor to many people of different things like the t-shirts with Salina’s face with the chupacabra's body and the wrestler named El Chupacabra that attended anti government protests. This reveals that the Latino culture attitudes and values have both been taken seriously and as a joke around the world. Another examples of a culture identifying with a negative figure I can find is a disease that has killed many
It is obvious to me that to wish to examine something is not to condone it. Yet when somebody tries to ask questions about taboo subjects today, they are assumed to be sympathetic to the subject, maybe even a little deranged, and certainly suspect. They become an outcast, and this coming adrift from the herd is also something which many fear. Many say better to be seen to be part of the lynch-mob than to become its quarry but these are the people who don't have the strength of character to even attempt to be the quarry.
Religion can be described as a social institution built up around the idea of a supernatural being or beings, and the relation of human beings to them. In addition, religion provides individuals a belief to which they understand their existence as well network of emotional support during times of distress. Moreover, religious institutions provide individuals a proper perspective of life and establish values. Religion involves three major aspects: A conception of the nature and character of divinity (2) A set of principles concerning the duties and obligations between divinity and humanity. (3) A set of behavior patterns designed to conform to God’s will (Thorman, 154). The theme of panopticisim is to assert and maintain power by being unseen. In Christianity, God, unable to be to seen, is a supernatural being with infinite power. In addition, the Holy Bible reaffirms this power and establishes accordance among civilians. The social institution of religion is a form of a panoptic system where individuals are compelled to act accordingly.
With this one can see why people practice religions in general, because religion gives a sense of security through stressing that faith is the key to getting through suffering. Faith in the everlasting soul, faith in God, or faith that one will end in the right place. Faith is the common factor among religions, and suffering brings out the faith in people.
Every state, culture, and society in the world has some form of religion. The most popular religions in the world today are Christianity, Buddhism, and the Muslim religions. Members of every religion follow some form of philosophy or ideology that shape their thinking and behaviors. One common thing about the existing religions is the presence of a supreme being. People misinterpret existing religious ideologies serving their personal interests that at times turn out to cause war. Religious ideologies brainwash populations who end up acting violently in different deviant forms (Richardson, 518). Religions use specific ideologies to make people living in a society violent to peaceful members who may fight back in self-defense.
In conclusion, in Naguib Mafouz’s Fountain and Tomb, we are faced with a central theme of Truth. It can be reasoned that most of the time the Truth (or knowledge) isn’t always something that it is necessary to know. The Truth can bring about happiness, prosperity, or a positive affect, but that seems to happen much less frequently. Sometimes being ignorant of the Truth is better because it makes lives easier and happier. People don’t necessarily need to know everything (the whole Truth), because what they don’t know can’t really hurt them. Truth comes with excess baggage, and it sometimes leads to conflict, hurt feelings, alienation, or broken hearts. As the old saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss.” Fountain and Tomb does an excellent job of illustrating that cliche.
Cypher seems to suggest that there are times when ignorance is bliss, and one is better off maintaining a positive illusion than facing a hard truth that one is not ready to accept. His statement could also be viewed as rigid close-mindedness, a non-willingness to see reality for what it is; a refusal to consider conflicting ideas based on a desire to maintain one’s beliefs. Generally, The Matrix raises a profound question as to why human beings want to know the truth. This paper will argue why one cannot be justified in choosing the “bliss of ignorance.”
Peace of mind comes at a cost. Stagnation of opinion surely instills a sense of comfort and certainty, and modern technology has created an environment perfectly tuned for this mentality. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that preemptive dismissal of new ideas has arrested the development of unworldly people and toxified their attempts at civil discourse. Perpetuation of ignorance through shortsighted refusal to assimilate alien concepts and perceptions results in a public mentality of unwavering self-righteousness. The human race has reached a cultural stage where if personal growth is to be achieved, innocence and ignorance must not be lost, but conceded.