“Ignorance is bliss.” I realize Thomas Gray’s famous quote is often misconstrued, however, I think interpreting it in this way is equally important as the original. When staying up late and obsessing over the incredible amount of problems the world faces and has been facing for centuries. Website after website, book after book. Sometimes I find answers but most of the time I don’t. This tends to make me extremely upset, which in turn leads to even more reading and researching. I get sad over things that will never affect me. I want to help find solutions to all of these issues, but I couldn’t possibly do that in the short amount of time I have on earth. In this way, my constant thirst for knowledge is really damaging to my mental health. I can’t say I wish I was ignorant to everything I have learned, but there is definitely comfort in not knowing. It’s much easier to be happy when you turn a blind eye to the suffering, corruption, poverty and other problems in the world. In my own words I would say that knowledge isn’t always power, and it sure as hell won’t help you sleep at night either.
