Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Ignorance is bliss. Or so they said. 

Is this inter personal behavior as simple they make out to be? And does it give the same result...a state of bliss...always? Another important point to contemplate is whether it has the same impact on all parties involved in the situation?

The answer would be a overwhelming No. 

Is Ignorance Bliss?

Let's take the case of a man and a lady. After being a good friend of hers, something goes wrong and the lady stops talking to the guy. Ignoring his calls and other communication attempts, she tries to isolate herself from this person. 

That's her attempt to ignore the person who she thinks is caustic to her and makes an attempt to work towards a state of bliss. And what about the guy in question?  He is down and out. And horribly miserable. 

Fast forward to some business case. After being a leader in a particular market, this top notch organisation sniffs some competition from a  new player in the market. Having a monopoly, the firm thinks that the newbie does not stand a chance to impact it in any way. 

Ignoring them, their clever strategy, their superior product, and the taste for new things by the masses, the old company starts loosing steam. And the new kid on the street emerges as a winner. 

So much for ignorance. 

Knowledge Vs Ignorance

The newbie does take a lesson in corporate policy...of not to ignore the smallest of the warnings , even at the expense of sounding alarmist. This very fact had made them a winner, and this should not make them a loser.    

Consider the ICC Cricket World Cup Finals. The toss is a crucial element in the game of cricket. The captain threw the coin and the other captain made the call. 

Dhoni, India's captain, tossed up the coin and Kumar Sangakarra of Sri Lanka made the call. The referee heard him mumble, but he was not sure whether he called "Heads" or "Tails". In the heat of the moment, everyone ignored the call and thought that things would work out correctly. 

And they didn't. The toss had to be redone. Luckily, Dhoni lost the toss, Sri Lanka chose to bat, and India went on to win the World Cup finals. 

If, only if, India had lost the match - the Indian society would not have forgiven the referee. 

If you are a person responsible for something or someone, like being a parent or a professional, you would have come across several situations where you would have thought - only if I had not ignored it. 

Ignorance Is Not An Excuse

Yes, ignorance does offer a short term peace of mind. In the long term, the result would be unpredictable. And as a matter of prudence, it will be better he we don't ignore the point.

Think about the silly boy who ignored the hints and overtures from the pretty girl, on whom he had a crush. As he just procrastinated on whether he was seeing things, he ignored her. Over a period of time, she lost interest in the boy. And then he is just another boy.   

Try to get back your thoughts when you were a student. Under huge pressure to study a huge syllabus, you skipped or ignored a lesson. Only to shudder to see some mandatory questions from that chapter in the exam. 

More and More Ignorance

Ignore at your own risk. Never ignore willfully. Even if the probability of the occurrence of the unexpected situation   is less, it may indeed occur. And hopefully, not ignoring will yield you a favorable result. 

Ignorance does not pay. Ignorance is not bliss.