Ignorance is Bliss (A concept and a review)

Let me start off by describing myself a little bit. I love to KNOW things… if you know what I mean; I just enjoy understanding everything and anything. I mean, there exist times when I’m sure that something is far out of my comprehensible league, and I leave it at that. But more than anything, I wish to understand it… if only every little idea or cognitive process would inherit reason within my mind. I would love more than anything to understand everything that came my way. Yet, I don’t know for sure if that would be the best thing for me…

I believe that there are things that weren’t supposed to be understood, of course and most obviously, the concept of a holy ghost (spirit). What really is it? Science doesn’t have a definition, and neither do we. Does it have a physical composition? If not, what determines the limits of space/time upon a non-physical being? The dimensions of space no longer apply, since in itself there is no space, and therefore cannot exist within a physical realm. But it certainly can exist…

You see? I did it right there… I took something which I really have no comprehension, tried to wrap my tiny brain around it, and came up with an internally mental compromise. I exemplified a conceptual theory, and used that to avoid the fact that I honestly have no understanding of it. At least I’m getting somewhere by admitting this, haha.

There have been numerous times in my life (more recently) where I just wish that I didn’t get IT as much. Along with knowledge, wisdom, intellect, comes great distress. As soon as I read the first sentence in Ecclesiastes, I fell in love. I can honestly say that it is my favorite book of ALL-TIME. I read it straight through, and multiple times over. And I still love reading it to this day. “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” –Ecclesiastes 1:18 LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! Somebody asked me once, “why do you like it so much?” And I thought about it… “Probably because of how relevant it is to ME, you have no idea what this means to me. I think about this stuff all the time. It is the driving force behind wanting to BE somebody, to DO something different, to be a tool of God above all else… because then my life can gain meaning.” These values I hold the highest… and I’ve realized that when I remember the words of Ecclesiastes, I understand things… I understand misunderstanding… I understand my ignorance. It’s comforting, and it makes me smile.

(Wow I sure hope that this is readable for you… :)

Even after reading through Ecclesiastes, I still strive every day to increase my wisdom and knowledge. I know that my sadness will only grow and grow… yet I still do it. There is just something about LEARNING that kills me, I love it so much. Maybe that is my downfall… but I feel like here’s my wisdom= .01% There is so much out there… so much left to study, and so much left that hasn’t even been touched upon yet. There is so much… AHHHH!!! It makes me cringe and squirm just thinking about the possibilities.

A little quote from some poetry that I wrote a few weeks ago= Nothing is like truth, this truth we find through an analytical proof. Yet what makes this proof truth? We must have a proof to determine that the ways in which we are analyzing truth are in fact true. And we find that you must have one in order to find the other. So there is no basic truth underlying everything we have ever experienced, thought of, and observed… there is only our faith.

That last line enraptures my thinking. Whatever it is that we can conjure out of our tiny understanding, what do we have to back it up in the end? Nothing but our own FAITH that what we are saying, that what we are breathing, is true. Faith… mmmhmm mmhm mhm Good! It’s comforting to know that God doesn’t care about whether or not it makes sense… he only cares that we believe. He trusts us that much, to throw ourselves around ignorantly at what ever we think is correct. Hah… He gives us too much credit.

Now… the concept of ignorance is bliss becomes very intriguing. The terms “ignorance” and “bliss” must first be defined, and even the State of Being (SOB) verb “is.” Ignorance- The state of a lack of knowledge or understanding. Bliss- A state of happiness, joy, understanding, or satisfaction. Is- Third person singular form of “to be.” So it could be said, “I am ignorant to be joyful.” There exist many loopholes that one could find within the words and their intended meaning placed together. But we may discern that, if someone happens to be intending their ignorance, they strive to achieve peace or satisfaction. So honestly, where does the credibility lie in insulting a person with the word “ignorant?” Of course, perhaps they aren’t intending their ignorance, perhaps it is just a part of who they are. But wait! Then they really must be satisfied and at peace! Right? Then they are TRULY ignorant and must honestly be TRULY blissful. But we know better than that, ignorance really doesn’t imply satisfaction or bliss. And it certainly doesn’t equal satisfaction or bliss. And therefore, in this sense, the statement “Ignorance is bliss” is inherently false. Another idea… what was the definition of bliss? Understanding? How is this possible? Ignorance is most definitely a LACK of understanding. Yet bliss IS understanding and satisfaction. They cannot go together, so we have to rule out that Bliss means understanding. I just presented a logical proof to provide evidence that bliss cannot mean understanding, out of a linguistic loophole (haha). So our own amazing language has become a tool for logically disproving a conceptual theory. You can do so much with it, but where do we stand without it? Life without language… Now there is something to dwell upon. If we have a LACK of understanding for communication(language) then we should be pretty pleasant people, no? I imagine that things would go either way, pleasant, or very unpleasant.

If you hadn’t noticed… Bliss’ real definition mentions nothing of understanding. I only added that in there to explore an idea, and to explore logical reasoning and transition to my next point.

I guess what I want to say is… I’m a fool for trying to increase my wisdom/knowledge. I understand that and I guess I don’t care… Everything is vanity, right? That is very depressing. But it is so true. It is how we were meant to be. God made us this way. Uber-vain creatures who curse the one who made them. Yet I believe that HE understands this more than any of us ever could, and as long as I hold that little bit of knowledge, I will be able to overcome my own vanity in light of the will of God. He’s got my back, no matter what :-D

Entropy (part 2)

No worries, no stress on our backs

An ocean of stars and our future selves

Asking us to please keep our heads out of the sand,

Its painful sleeping with miniature rocks and

Miniscule diamonds itching at our sleeping cells

Creating for us an image of hell, souls burning bright without bodies…

(I place three logs on the soft orange coal)

No tears, no pain to be had.

As cities sleep on this dark planet,

We can hear their snoring now, yes,

We can hear their screams and cries for help, “An answer…

An answer please!” There is a reason for this silent reply…

No sound, our eardrums may rest

After frantic beating of pulled taught and

Stressed human skin. A bead of sweat

Is all that’s left to penetrate the stillness in our flesh.

Once again our eyes

Deflected to witness a movement…

A black crow passes underneath each and

Every star we see to follow the scent of bloody, aged, death.

Diseased bird flies west, fighting every inhibition

To turn around and face the sun

To travel East maybe, for a change, to see what’s up there I’d guess.

But hunger raging, the bird forgets all about the sun and

Peers down to see two perfectly pleased bodies on the beach.

(And sand turns to water)

The bird sees it’s reflection in the black, starry, glass beneath,

And maybe tear drops fell from his eyes, we’d like to think.

We’d like to think he feels at home.

“Wouldn’t it be great to be a bird… to be able to fly?” she speaks.

“He’s not as free as he’d like to be.” I’d imagined nothing sadder

In the time I’ve been pondering.

But have heard nothing sweeter than her voice breaking silence.

(The logs burst into flames)

Asking me anything about anything. Ask me anything.

I don’t even care anymore, just ask me anything.

Ask me a simple question, just ask me a question,

So I can hear your voice again.

Free will

Well... at first before addressing the topic, one must reflect upon their personal beliefs. Is everything predetermined? Is everything determined by choice and thus, indeterminate altogether? Is free will possible within a determined future?

From a logical perspective, the existence of the knowledge of our future actions presents itself evident. Not through our knowledge, but through the knowledge of a higher being. If you withdraw from a dimensional and restrictive viewpoint of "time", everything occurs with a cause... and everything occurs with an effect. Whether the causes and effects are separated by thousands of millennium or mere seconds, each action owns a respective reason for birth and a consequence of existence.
Now, since God is omnipotent and omniscient, he exists within and outside of the boundaries of time. God is all powerful. So God is independent of any Earthly restrictions such as time. And since God has no restriction... God can see all things, whether past or future. So in that sense, he knows what actions we will make, he knows what we are thinking before we think it, he knows before we betray him, he knows when we will sing praise to him. But within this knowledge of everything, I believe we still have free will. Since we do not know of our doings twenty years down the line... we can still make a decision as to what we wish to be... even though God ultimately knows our "destiny". =compatibilism

Upon reflection... one can see that in every action one is free in choice. Except that one happens to be subjected to necessity, and in such we are not free. One does not change their conduct because of reflection and resolution of free choice, one must act as subject to their individual character from the beginning to the end. And that through natural development and maturity, the choices change justly based upon one's nature. In the end we only carry out the actions that as a personage one condemns necessary.

Regarding free will restrictions... Definitively one will make the choice to commit murder. Whether or not the Government states that murder is wrong, if one has a reasonable cause for action, one will likely act upon such cause. BUT, the Government/and/or laws placed upon such actions do carry INFLUENCE within the initiation of the action which is permitted by reasonable cause. Thus, the "body" of Government has a reasonable cause to commit to action a law that will presumably deter such a heinous crime. The effect or "end" allows for an unquestionable state of action or "means" such as prohibiting the killing of another human without cause to defend oneself.

On the less obvious things... complexity envelopes the reasoning. As a society, there exists rules. In any society, large or small... there exists rules. The Federal Government has laws regarding criminal and civil jurisdiction, and a household has "unspoken" laws such as, do not burn the house down, or in many cases "spoken" laws such as, "we don't hit." Without rules(as you said) chaos ensues and our hierarchical chambers of society crumble to just a foundation. That foundation is the morals of our individual tenor. As a collection, we act independently of the morals of others while still recognizing such morals and either responding sympathetically or in disregard to nothing but ourselves. The Federal Government and all the laws carried hypocritically on its back represent necessary societal organization of beliefs and the justification of cases of offense.

I believe... in a perfect society there would not be a need for government. Because everyone strives to be more like Jesus Christ in every action, in every response, in every thought and each person possesses opposition of self preservation in favor of a greater habitat. But I also believe that one thing cannot exist without it's natural opposite. And such a society would inherit the need for existence of a perfectly opposite society. And though our present society is quite awful, it is far from the unimaginable horrors of one such hellish existence. What we truly need, more than anything, is not Christianity in Government, but "christ-like" individuals in Government. Liberals and the separation of church and state alike would exemplify their grand distaste in this for their belief in false freedoms. These false freedoms only exist here on Earth, where money-whores' and power-mongers' short miserable lives can live (what they believe is)peacefully without the infringement of basic principles of economic capitalism.

Because their is a cause for law, their exists a method for acquiring order.

It is crazy to imagine a world where LOGIC, which is so important for all things, could have a different method. Where the traditional scientific method is foreign and unintelligible. Where basic reasoning exists as an example for extreme pollution of thought. All understanding would be twisted upside down. All intelligence garnered through time would no longer be applicable. All and everything ultimately ends and begins at nothing.