GD Topic - Its Folly to be Wise where Ignorance is Bliss
6 people are having a discussion on the topic (Sam, Vern, Mark, Sonika, Julie, and John)
Category: Abstract, Social
Group Discussion Starts
Vern: Its folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss, Ignorance means not knowing or not aware of a certain things. The statement Ignorance is bliss was given by an eighteenth century poet Thomas Gray. This means that Instead of knowing everything and worrying about that it’s better to be not knowing and remaining happy.
Mark: This statement has many subtle nuances which would not be obvious in the first and needs deeper insights to understand. From a spiritual point of view it could be viewed attaining happiness could be only got by letting everything go, detaching yourself from external thoughts.
Sonika: Many philosophical thinkers also say that once you start questioning and try to find the answers for everything you go into spree of ever ending chase, which takes you to nowhere.
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Julie: Attaining the ultimate knowledge is that knowing that the Ultimate knowledge cannot be attained and stop following to know everything.
John: This always we should accept things at face value sometimes without questioning. Because life becomes complicated once we suspect everything. Depression and stress only will be left if we suspect things around us.
Sam: People sometimes misinterpret this in a different way as being ignorant brings happiness and stops finding true knowledge.
Julie: Basically people must be ignorant to the evil things in the world; else they might lose hope of truth and the good things of the world.
Sam: In such a case even when it is known that the world is full of evil, one must not try to be ignorant of it because that could further keep evil things propagating in the world. Instead one must try get to the solution of eradicating it which only be achieved by deeper understanding.
Vern: Many times you need to believe in things without questioning them with hope. For instance if you take a hostages being taken for ransom, people must try and hope that the police and the concerned authorities would do the necessary things. Instead someone from the tries to act over smart, then the case would turn to be a mess.
Mark: We can’t directly extrapolate such examples to be applicable for every case. If we wait that some super power will eradicate the world from evil and remain ignorant, then the whole world will only suffer.
John: One must not folly if everyone around him is ignorant because of the possible stress and discomfort that is going to happen if he urges to search for truth. In that case he might not be acting in a natural way and only acting to the society, leading to further distress
Sonika: It reminds me of many things. First: a famous book written by Rashmi Bansal – “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish”. In which there is a message to be open for new learning that is staying hungry for knowledge. And even if you are so intelligent don’t show that. Be open, learn and make your life better.
Sam: Its folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss. Also can be used about the very important method used by the various companies and that is outsourcing. Sometimes it could be the best step that organizations can do. And there are many advantages that company can get through these type of initiatives.
John: I agree with Sam. Through outsourcing company can get rid of the tasks in which they are not comfortable. And they can focus more on their core competencies. That’s the reason manufacturing units take many contract people, so that they can get them whenever there is excess need.
Mark: In this world of competition one must be always alert. If some of your friends, relatives or colleagues know that you are very good in some tasks then it may turn burdensome thing for you. Let’s say you are a computer technology expert. Then people may always call you whenever they require any help from you. And indulging into small task may irritate you. At your workplace your colleagues can ask you to help then with presentation, Excel calculations etc. So, it is good that if people don’t know that you are good at.
Vern: Many times we have heard a famous quote by Diana – “They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable”. Poor people are happy because they have fewer things to worry about. Poor people have to just think about food and shelter. If they got that then they are happiest. And on the other hand if we talk about rich people then they have many things to worry about. They are busy in doing work or business. They have less time to enjoy. If they would have known less then probably they could be happier.
Sam: I agree with the point made by Vern. If you know more there are more problems. And if you know less then also there will be less problems.
Conclusion
The quote – “Its folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss” is very much insightful. This means that if we ignore several things so then we can be productive. If you don’t ignore irrelevant things then you will end up thinking about it. And if it is not relevant to you and still you are doing then you end up wasting your time in unnecessary things. Based on the discussion, we feel that the important thing is: if you don’t have any control over the issue then better you ignore.
Facts related to the topic
• The statement Ignorance is bliss was given by an eighteenth century poet Thomas Gray.
• Many philosophical thinkers also say that once you start questioning and try to find the answers for everything you go into spree of ever ending chase, which takes you nowhere.
• Excessive cell phone use is said to have a very negative impact – 50% of our behavioural problems arise due to this.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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