Ignorance Was Bliss

May 7, 2014

By Daniel Carbonella

If you are ignorant of your own ignorance, how will you ever realize that it is bliss? In order to become aware that what is causing your bliss is your ignorance, you have to be aware that you are, in fact, ignorant. But, the very nature of ignorance includes the fact that man is unaware of it. So, in being aware of your ignorance, that is, once you are, it is no longer ignorance. You have lifted the veil of your ignorance by staring it in the face, so to speak. In realizing or unmasking your ignorance, according to the saying, you are no longer in a blissful state. Therefore, the only way to ever discover that ignorance is bliss is upon reflection of a time when you were both ignorant and happier than the state you are in currently. Thus, the statement may only ever be made in the form of the past tense, that being, ignorance was bliss. Or, perhaps, if you are referring to an observation you have made regarding another individual’s ignorance, and are perhaps slightly envious of their ensuing bliss, you might say “ignorance is bliss,” but only due to the fact that it is another individual’s ignorance, and not your own. You may not ever be aware of your bliss and ignorance simultaneously. You are either blissful and unaware of your ignorance, or not blissful as a result of realizing your now previous state of ignorance.

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