Ignorance Is Not Bliss, It Is Necessary!

Some people use the word ignorant as an insult.
And if it is used related to an area about which you are knowledgeable, it could be taken as an insult.
But the truth is, I’m ignorant.
You’re ignorant.
Everybody on earth is ignorant.
About more things than you can mention.
There is so much to know, you cannot know it all.
You can never not be ignorant about something.
The intelligent thing is to decide what you need to know and what you don’t need to know.
To identify about what things you can afford to be ignorant, and what you can’t.
To make a conscious decision to “not know” certain things.
And to make an effort to acquire the knowledge and knowhow that you decide is important for your survival.
And that has to be different for everyone.
And different at different times in your life.
For instance at present I can safely “not know” how to show a horse.
But don’t advise that to someone who keeps horses.
Now some of the “I should know that” topics are pretty common to all of us.
How to take care of a body.
How to manage oneself.
How to focus and persist.
How to relax and unwind.
How to resist the urge to be dishonest or unethical.
How to spot who you can trust and who you can’t.
How to spot a person who would lead you astray and how to decline their manipulations and stay out of trouble.
How to build the courage to do what is right regardless of how uncomfortable it is.
How to communicate appropriately to others.
How to understand our fellow man.
How to maintain our liking for our fellow man despite all invitations to not do so.
How to earn enough to provide for ourselves and our family.
I guess this train of thought came about because my purpose in life is to understand.
So I could quite happily spend all day reading and sharing with people what I learned.
But there are other things to be done.
A dog to be walked.
Meals to be prepared.
A body to be exercised.
Groceries to be fetched.
Bills to be paid.
A living to be earned.
And because there are only so many hours in the day that force one to prioritise one’s time, if we are to be maximally effective we need to prioritise our learning.
To be continued… …but in the mean time… …start to compile a list of what subjects, topics and areas of life you personally wish to know more about.