Ignorance is Blissful for the Ignorant

It’s no secret what technology has allowed, it has opened the flood gates of the people who do not know or understand a topic to post their thoughts and opinions on that matter. At one time, I do believe ignorance is bliss and I believe that it was taught and instilled by parents that if you don’t know or understand something, listen. But in modern day, the progression of getting your voice out there and the ability to hide behind a screen has allowed people who may not be ignorant about something, but simply uninformed to voice their opinions. I’m not saying it’s wrong to let your thoughts on a subject be known, by all means, let the world know what you think, but before you post, think. Think about what you’re saying, think if it even makes sense and especially if it is even right. It’s simple and can save you a lot of embarrassment if someone who actually knows what is going on responds to your post. You’ll be at a loss for words as that persons comments cut yours to the ground. The difference between an uniformed post and a thoughtful informed one is that the later has a leg to stand on. When you use facts instead of just feelings and ideas, you have a stronger hold on the conversation (unfortunately this doesn’t mean you’ll “win” the argument).

I’m not saying this to be mean or to demean anyone. That is not my intentions at all. I simply want to help people understand the importance of understanding a subject before they make a post and make a fool of themselves. Not to classify anyone, but I see this kind of ignorant attitude in todays youth. As a senior who had studied many reports on subjects and built my opinion based off of that, I often found myself being attacked verbally by an eighth grader who had read the title of the article. It was embarrassing, mainly because their tactics didn’t allow me to get in a word. I promise, I’m not writing this to belittle anyone, I’m simply attempting to tell you that it is very important to be informed on a subject before you enter in a conversation/argument about it. 

You know, I’m just going to say it… It frightens me. It frightens me seeing how many people think they know what they are talking about as they post comments on Facebook and Twitter about things. All they seem to do is read the title and create a complex theory based off of that. There are a few parts of that that disturb me, 1) don’t believe everything you read on the internet and 2) 99% of articles seem to be written from a certain view point. You can’t take those for fact when they are written with an opinion. Everyone has opinions, and sadly to completely understand a topic (speaking a political issue or financial issues) you have to read and take in as many articles as possible based off it. Half the time I wonder if these people that comment or respond to my comments in public even read the article or just read the title. The reason this disturbs me though is because that an uninformed, naive, and ignorant society surely can’t survive. “See no (insert issue), speak no (insert issue), hear no (insert issue)” doesn’t make the problem go away! Ignorance is defined as lack of knowledge or information. Naivety is defined as lack of experience, wisdom, and judgment. The issues isn’t the lack of information though, I believe the issues is that so many people to realize that knowledge and understanding, and the reading or listening that has to be done to understand something. When you close your mind, you allow issues that are very real to slip by. Then, it comes and slaps you in the face and you wonder what the heck happened… (Education for me, just squeaked by doing minimal work all though middle and high school, but now I realize the demanding work that is required to do well in College.) 

I love the quote by the one and only Ricky Gervais, “Ignorance is bliss… For the ignorant. For the rest of us it’s a pain in the butt.” (Now, I did make it G rated as Ricky has a mouth, but you get the idea). Being ignorant may be blissful for a time, but understand that people lose respect for you for several reasons. One, because no body likes a know it all, especially when they do not know it all. Two, if you talk like you know it, but what you say shows otherwise, then all that does is make them not enjoy talking to you, if you respond with a close minded “this is the way” answer, they will not want to talk to you. Three, they don’t feel like they can talk to you. When people respond with closed mindedness, my initial response is honestly, “why am I talking still”. Ignorance makes conversation extremely difficult. 

I’m sure you’ve all heard about the whole deal in Texas right now, where a young boy who is muslim showed up to school with a clock he made to show his teachers. 1) It wasn’t show and tell day… 2) It wasn’t actually a clock (it was a clock his father brought home from the Radio Shack he works at and the boy made it so it counted down) 3) The boy took it to school in a briefcase and used wires rather than locks to hold it shut… And so many people read the title, “Muslim boy arrested for bringing clock he made to school.” The teachers weren’t being racist, they were doing their job of protecting other students. They didn’t accuse him of anything, the first teacher asked him to keep it in his locker and not take it out until he headed home, so what’d he do? Took it into the next teacher who said the same thing. So, I’m not saying you’re one of those people, but before posting on something, get the facts first. Yes it’s good and American to have an opinion, but quite honestly, you shouldn’t have an opinion until you’ve read or heard and understand the real facts. Most people think that the news hides facts, and yes I am sure they do, but there’s more news agencies than just CNN News or Fox. Listen to a few talk shows like Glenn Beck and you’ll get news with facts so that your opinion can have a leg to stand on.

I suppose that this post has been a very long and winded way of saying, “Open your eyes, ears, heart, and mind!” (Imagine I’m yelling, unless you don’t like that, then imagine I’m speaking as softly as a butterfly). Society will surely die (not that dramatic but will surely struggle) as ignorance doesn’t allow progression. Listen and learn, obtain knowledge, and live a wonderful life full of interesting thoughts and ideas. Whether you want to accept it or not, the issues of life are there and very real, and they will come up to get you whether you acknowledge their existence or not. Oddly enough, one of the biggest issues I see, is ignorance, and this needs to be fixed. No more 12 year olds acting like they know everything and responding harshly to someone who has actually looked into and studied that subject. It’s hurtful, and it’s going to lead to issues as the people who know something aren’t going to be allowed to talk. So yeah, please, I beg of you, read, take in, and listen. Especially if you are not totally sure on stuff, even then, listen to what they have to say. Sure you win arguments when you don’t let them talk, but you lose companions or friends at the same time. So listen, who knows, they may have an idea you hadn’t thought about. I’m sorry if this is accusatory, I don’t mean it to be, I’m trying to shed light on the fact that ignorance can and will drive society into the ground. So I’m asking you, and I’m doing it too, to look into a story, get the facts, find the reality before creating and basing an opinion on the title of the article. Thanks for reading.

Happy is a yuppie word...

I am convinced, that happy is truly a yuppie word. Now, before you look at me like I’m crazy and I’m trying to be Dr. Seuss, understand this… Yuppie is a word, and it’s a pretty great adjective describing a person (for the fact that it sounds). Yuppie is defined as a well-paid young upper middle-class individual working in the city and living a luxurious lifestyle. So, now that you understand what “yuppie” means, I can begin to make my statement and describe to you why I truly believe that happy is a yuppie word. Although, maybe I will restate that, “happy is a word for the yuppie” makes a little more sense maybe… or not. At least it makes sense to me! And hopefully as I describe this, it might make sense to you too! Or… maybe not. Oh well.

When you think of happy, what’s the first thought that comes to mind? Usually, good memories, times spent with family, or your significant other or what not. That would be the typical answer when asked about happiness, for obvious reasons. Now think about joyous times? That’s a tad bit harder. There is barely a handful of times in my life that I can recall that I felt joy. Joy is an after thought, when you suffer with depression. Oddly enough, when you’re in a hole in life and suffering in the deep darkness of depression… all you want to feel is love and happiness. But honestly, looking back, the root was happiness. Or so I thought. Because I wanted to be happy with friends and family who cared. I wanted my old heart that was wrapped in a cast to be signed by those who cared. I sat their daily, begging for signatures as if I was holding a petition for something unruly, and all I seemed to get were noses stuck up at me. Happiness escaped me, along with joy and love, and all the emotions I once held dear. Being bullied and teased through middle and high school stunk. I’ve grown to believe that happiness isn’t an emotion it is simply a decision on what happened. We created this “emotion” per-say when in reality, happiness is more than likely thought based. A thought that we create about things. 

The creation of an emotion in a mind is easy except you don’t realize that the so called “emotion” is actually a creation. You see, so many people (like myself) have for so long created the perception of happiness that we just believe it to be real. But what if I told you that you can create a happy situation out of nearly everything? Seems crazy, yes, even I’ll admit that… I’m serious though. I honestly believe without a doubt that happiness is not a real emotion but a mental decision. When something happens, if you’re not really sure what you’re feeling, what is your response? I find typically, when something good happens but I’m not sure how I feel, I simply tell myself I feel happy. There’s not much else too it? Oddly enough, I think that because we say “I feel happy” makes it a conscious decision. When you have to make a conscious decision that you’re going to feel happy, that voids it from being an emotion. I’m not talking about when you are asked how you feel, I’m talking about when you sit there and question how you feel.

So, the other day I was talking to a friend (yes, I do have a friend outside my girlfriend) and they were talking about how things were going wrong. Now, I know that feeling, I have had my fair share of issues, but over time I’ve come to the realization that life is simply filled with choices. Now, I know that I’ve talked about this before but I guess I’m just talking about this more and more because I realize how important it is in life to understand this. Every scenario in life presents a decision, you can either take things with a grain of salt and understand that life is a journey and a lesson, or take it harshly and be bitter. Life if about choices, and I’ve begun to think and realize that happiness and sadness aren't so much feelings and emotions as they are about a decision. A very common thing I hear, and yes I’m guilty of this, is saying that “I hate my job” or “I hate… about my job”. I am highly guilty of this as I work a third shift job and it’s torture sometimes not getting much sleep. Well, I’ve come to realize how lucky I am to have a job. Sure I may not be making much, and I’m working odd hours and I find grapes in the diaper aisle or whole potatoes in the freezers and I become frustrated with people, I soon relax and realize how lucky I am to have a job. I somehow convince myself I’m happy to serve and take care of items people leave in the wrong aisles because maybe they can’t afford it anymore. It’s unfortunate they leave it there, but hey, gives me something to do and humors me sometimes (I found a large watermelon on the top shelf of the chips… like, how??) Anyways, life is based off of decisions that we have in life, we always make decisions, and so often times we as humans make the easy decision about our feelings on something. If it’s good, we are happy! If it’s bad, we are sad. Yes, simplistic, but lets try this, to make life a little more enjoyable, and I’m working on this too, when life hits a bumpy patch, somehow find happiness. Find a reason to be happy. 

You know… I have come to the conclusion as well that there are rainbows everywhere. Whether or not a storm came through, there’s a rainbow. The thing is, rainbows are simply water particles being reflected, so who’s to say that we are just not at the right angle to see a rainbow? I truly think there are rainbows everywhere, and if you fail to see one, try changing your perspective.

I’m putting this out there as a helpful tool for everyone. If you don’t agree that happiness is a conscious choice, great, believe what you believe. But, I do think it’s about a decision more so than a feeling. I believe it, and I’m working to change the way I perceive life. If I’m to be quite honest, my life has taken a drastic turn to the positive since I’ve been seeing things through rose tinted glasses. Yes, I still feel like a lot of times life is bad, but, the good times are a lot better now. So, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Trying to Make Aretha Franklin Proud.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! (sorry, I couldn't help myself...)

Respect. The universal language of “you matter to me”, or “you mean something to me”, or really, “you’re another person and I care”… If you think this is false, then think again. It seems like 99% of relationships (strong lasting ones) are built out of respect for each other. When you look at a person, and say “I value your opinion”. Yes you may think they’re wrong on somethings, but you value their opinion which means you value them. Make sense? Too often today, with the rise of social media, people share their opinions and just get lambasted in the comments for what they have to say. We have no respect for each other face to face because we’ve grown up with no respect for the person on the other side of social media. We view our opinions and our ideals as holy word, and any other person who doesn’t fit this is will be scrutinized or treated with no respect. 

I’ve seen it all too many times. Siblings torn apart because a lack of respect for each others social life’s. Married or dating couples losing respect for each other which entails a falling out due to lack of trust as well. If you can’t respect a person and their decisions, how can you trust them. See, when you don’t have respect for someone you love (family member or significant other) then you try to control their lives because you think you know what’s best for them. Well, it’s time to sit down and think. Who knows what is best for someone? That person. You can’t control them because it’s their life and their choices, not yours. Yeah, you may not agree with them, or you think they’re crazy for it, but instead of bashing them and making them feel horrible for it… Try respecting them. Because burning bridges by disrespecting is the worst way to lose people who are close to you. When you disrespect someone, and that bridge is burned, that leaves a very sour taste in the persons mouth. The likelihood of them wanting anything to do with you is slim to none. 

See, this isn’t holding a grudge though. When you are disrespected, it’s more a psychological response that happens than an emotional one. Being disrespected hurts more and causes many people to close their walls. Kind of like me. Majority of my life it seems, at least through middle school and high school, I had things to say that I thought were important. Well, my “friends” would shut me up or ignore me. Very few if any really listened to me. So you know what? I learned to be quiet since it seemed like no one cared or respected my thoughts. Now that I’ve started this blog, and I’ve opened up more to my girlfriend, she and a few others, and they all seem to enjoy what I have to say to some extent I think. I really appreciate it, and it really helps my confidence when I hear people comment on how good my writing is. Similarly, when you show respect and kindness to someone, you boost their confidence and help them accomplish more.

Respect does go two ways, and sadly, the term “if you want respect you have to give respect” really doesn’t work out sometimes. You can give all the respect you can for someone and they’ll still look down on you. You have to earn it as well as give it. 

Respect goes a long way. So really, even if you don't agree with their choice, tell them in a respectful manner. If they still don't agree, then accept that they're making a decision based off of THEIR life anyways. Respect is useful and helpful in so many ways... Thanks for reading. Sorry this post is rather short, just started classes, looking forward to using what I learn in my Sociology class to help create some great posts!