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by anonbanker 3747 days ago
Is it better to be happy, or informed?
6 comments

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides."

- John Stuart Mill

Can anyone really know what it's like to be a pig?

- Thomas Nagle paraphrased :)

Lots of people seem to be perfectly placed to know this. Much easier than knowing what it's like to be an eagle, for instance.
http://vladdolezal.com/blog/2011/circle-of-concern-circle-of...

Ignorance is bliss. Personally I'd rather be informed, that way when I do have the power to exert a little influence (such as in the voting booth) I'm more likely to make a decision that will steer away from more mess. Even so that almost always feels like decisions between various grades of bad rather than something good.

After September 11, 2001, I stopped listening to the news for about 5 years. I was tired of hearing one horrible thing after another. While I wasn't living under a rock, the things I did hear about -- Blackwater, Abu Ghraib, "Mission Accomplished" --- did nothing to make me want to pay attention again. In retrospect, I think it's too complacent a stance, but I still think a daily dose of bad news is excessive. Which is why I read up on the presidential primaries at a weekly interval.
Avoid subjecting yourself to the tyranny of false dichotomies. It's vastly superior to either alone.
It's not completely a false dichotomy.

A casual Google search says that "happy" == "feeling or showing pleasure or contentment".

The more informed you are, the more problems you will see and the less content you will be with the state of things. Problems aren't particularly conducive to happiness.

That said, ignorance is not necessarily bliss. It is better to be informed and be able to protect oneself from possible problems than it is to continue to pretend everything is fine and fall victim to eventual problems.

I need both.
Happy. Trying my best to get over existential dread.
Definitely happy.