Ignorance is bliss? Is it OK to be ignorant?

Yesterday my aunt came over to see my sister and me. I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years and I don't eat meat because I don't feel comfortable with the idea of mass production. I also don't need to eat meat as I have access to any other kind of food, so I don't want to eat it. Anyway, it's not really a big issue for me and I don't try to force other people to become vegetarian...it's a choice you have to make for yourself. But, my sister and my aunt were saying that they 'know that animals suffer' but they just don't want to think about it or care about it. So, they said they enjoy eating KFC but don't want to hear about what happens to the chicken before it's killed. My sister gets 'grossed out' when you talk about battery farms or abattoirs. Then they were talking about Gaza, and their view was that 'yes, there are horrible things out there, but I don't need to know about them.'

I know that a lot of people ignore horrible news and ignore the reality of where the things they purchase and consume have come from. (This isn't a big meat-bashing post....it's not really about vegetarianism!) But I can't do that. I'm reminded of the proverb: To close one's eyes does not ease another's pain.

Basically, I can't figure out what's 'wrong' with sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the terrible things in the world. Is it 'wrong'? Should we really all live as ignorant a life as possible? Is that happiness?

Ah, sorry if this isn't clear...I'm confused.

Reply 1

TenOfThem

18

Original post by BeautifulPotato

Yesterday my aunt came over to see my sister and me. I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years and I don't eat meat because I don't feel comfortable with the idea of mass production. I also don't need to eat meat as I have access to any other kind of food, so I don't want to eat it. Anyway, it's not really a big issue for me and I don't try to force other people to become vegetarian...it's a choice you have to make for yourself. But, my sister and my aunt were saying that they 'know that animals suffer' but they just don't want to think about it or care about it. So, they said they enjoy eating KFC but don't want to hear about what happens to the chicken before it's killed. My sister gets 'grossed out' when you talk about battery farms or abattoirs. Then they were talking about Gaza, and their view was that 'yes, there are horrible things out there, but I don't need to know about them.'

I know that a lot of people ignore horrible news and ignore the reality of where the things they purchase and consume have come from. (This isn't a big meat-bashing post....it's not really about vegetarianism!) But I can't do that. I'm reminded of the proverb: To close one's eyes does not ease another's pain.

Basically, I can't figure out what's 'wrong' with sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the terrible things in the world. Is it 'wrong'? Should we really all live as ignorant a life as possible? Is that happiness?

Ah, sorry if this isn't clear...I'm confused.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference

Reply 2

username1403586

2

"Listen, smile, agree and then do whatever the **** you were going to do anyway." - Robert Downey.Jr

Apply the ignorance when you feel like you need to. For example, I wouldn't apply ignorance to the situation if I was learning from someone else's experience on the matter.

Reply 3

benplumley

11

I think there's a difference between the two examples you give. If someone cares very much about animal rights and vegetarianism, there's something they can do about it (become vegetarian or only buy free-range etc). If someone cares about humanitarian crises, there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. Not wanting to know the details of something gruesome is pretty reasonable if you can't affect it. The proverb is meaningless: to close one's eyes does not ease another's pain, but nothing else you can do will ease it either, so it doesn't really matter what you do.

That said, I do think people should keep vaguely up-to-date with important news stories, because sometimes there are situations where people can make a difference (SOPA, to give one example).

Reply 4

IanDangerously

20

Original post by BeautifulPotato

Yesterday my aunt came over to see my sister and me. I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years and I don't eat meat because I don't feel comfortable with the idea of mass production. I also don't need to eat meat as I have access to any other kind of food, so I don't want to eat it. Anyway, it's not really a big issue for me and I don't try to force other people to become vegetarian...it's a choice you have to make for yourself. But, my sister and my aunt were saying that they 'know that animals suffer' but they just don't want to think about it or care about it. So, they said they enjoy eating KFC but don't want to hear about what happens to the chicken before it's killed. My sister gets 'grossed out' when you talk about battery farms or abattoirs. Then they were talking about Gaza, and their view was that 'yes, there are horrible things out there, but I don't need to know about them.'

I know that a lot of people ignore horrible news and ignore the reality of where the things they purchase and consume have come from. (This isn't a big meat-bashing post....it's not really about vegetarianism!) But I can't do that. I'm reminded of the proverb: To close one's eyes does not ease another's pain.

Basically, I can't figure out what's 'wrong' with sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the terrible things in the world. Is it 'wrong'? Should we really all live as ignorant a life as possible? Is that happiness?

Ah, sorry if this isn't clear...I'm confused.

It's never good to be ignorant of what's happening, but you can be informed about it and then choose to ignore it from a position of knowledge. I know about animals being slaughtered and it doesn't bother me, I still choose to eat them. Most meat eaters aren't going to be grossed out by that sort of thing or particularly concerned, we know what goes on but value our own food tastes higher than the welfare of animals.

Ignorance is bliss? Is it OK to be ignorant?

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