You would have heard someone saying, ” Ignorance is bliss “. It means that if someone does not know about a problem, they do not need to worry about it. In some instances, it also means you may have a lack of knowledge about something that is presented to you and thus, you wish to take longer time to learn and know about it.
At the beginning, you will prevail an attribute of saying that you are not aware of it at all and would probably be staring at a blank wall. No worries, if you do not know. It is better to be honest than make a fool of yourself by playing charades or worst still, trying to drum up a story instead.
You may ask yourself if being ignorant is helpful. It does, I guess, if you do not want to read the daily news online and not wanting to know what is happening around the world. However, being ignorant can viewed as a counter-productive behavior, if you deny yourself from doing something right.
If you find yourself in the middle of an accident scene, and you decide flip up your phone to record the incident, instead of finding out if a call was made to the emergency service, then you are being ignorant and selfish. Place yourself in an empathetical role, and you would not want to be in the same situation yourself, if you have met in an accident.
When you encourage the behavior of being ignorant in your daily living, your mind will have the tendency to omit factors that you should take into account, or being irresponsible to yourself. You may just walk out of your house, and not switch off your air-conditioner, telling yourself it is alright. What happens is an increase in your electricity bill, sooner or later.
You may know that by taking an effort to fix an issue relating to your car, it would be safe and sound for you to drive. Let’s say that you decide to take a counter-productive path and say that you will wait until your next service is due to your car. Unfortunately, when the car breaks down due to your intentional delay, it may end up having a higher repair cost that you could have saved if you had acted upon sooner. Thus, being ignorant about your personal safety, is not a productive outcome.
Ignorance is also said to be caused by afflictive emotions, which means emotions that keeps your mind from having clarity and comprehensibility.
For example, you are an acute diabetic. Sweet and savory chocolates are your favorite. You are very much aware that you should stop consuming excessive chocolates, as it is crucial to your blood sugar level management. You gobble up to two large bars of chocolate daily without feeling guilty. When you become seriously ill and the doctor tells you that you may need to amputate your toes, feet, or lower legs, you suddenly have a rush of emotion. You find fault in yourself for not taking care of your personal welfare. Your ignorance to your own well-being, lead you to a detrimental path.
Some of the inherent qualities of ignorance are as follows:
- Racism
- Animosity
- Provocation
- Segregation
- Caste and Creed
- Selfishness
- Self-Indulgence
- Obsession
- Lack of Empathy
- Greed
- Arrogance
Let me give another example of ignorance that may sound controversial to you. Cryptocurrencies seem to be very popular amongst current generation. In some, it is a rebellious move to find independence from the system in place under normal financial trade.
The fundamental value to cryptocurrencies is ‘Zero Value’. Why? Because it does not reflect any sense until and when you use this currency in part of your trade with a tradeable currency, primarily US dollars. For example, as I am writing this blog, the value of one Bitcoin stands at USD 39,650. Five years ago, in 2016, it was only at USD 655. What was actually mined? Unlike real gold mining, Bitcoin is mined via complex equation running on computers.
The trading of this cryptocurrency is flabbergasting indeed. Ironically, if you had bought Bitcoin in 2016, you would have made 60 times the money today if you sold what you had. Crazy but true! Cryptocurrencies does not carry any value from the mining activities. It consume high amount of energy resources and the outcome of these derivative coins are traded on such violate market. In reality, it has no sense at all, as the origin of this coin is just digital illusion.
If I had mined a ton of gold from the available resources, the use of gold can be traded in many forms and applications. Trading the illusive cryptocurrencies for example, is like you are purchasing a unicorn online. You want it so much, that you believe it exist and willing to pay whatever costs. Am I right to question, mining and trading of cryptocurrencies a sense of being ignorant? You have the answer to this.
I am just waiting to see, what will be the outcome when 21 million coins have been reached for the Bitcoin mining algorithm. Controversial as it sounds, I am bringing forward the discussion of cryptocurrencies reality to tease your thoughts. At the moment, China has made it illegal to trade this form of currency in circulation, highlighting money-laundering.
When a painter completes an artwork, it carries no value until and when it is appraised, especially if you are a very popular or mysterious artist like Banksy. The obsession to purchase an artwork at any cost, inflates it, when being auctioned. The artists, most of the time, would not have lived to enjoy any actual revenue from the sale of the artwork that was sold in millions of dollars. Yet, you can see artworks, cars, watches, crafted pens, and more, are trading at values beyond general affordability or at the original price it was sold.
When you pay for the labor, skill, time and quality of work done, the purchase carries a tangible trade value. When you are paying for inflated trade, justifying the purpose of acquisition at any cost, that is an obsession and root to your greed. If you see it in relative to what I am explaining here, you will see how ignorant you can become.
REFLECTION: You need a drink. You look for a cup to fill water. Your thirst is now quenched.
Maximus @ MaximusPrimo.com
The day you scoop water with your own hands and drink it, you have learnt a cup is no longer needed.
