Living in ignorance. How do people do it?

[sanstesy]

How can most people live their life "to the fullest" and "live in the moment" while completely ignoring the utterly obvious and horrific future consequences of their momentary decision-making?

How can people just brush away all the abonimable events and unjustice currently occurring to the less-privileged everywhere on earth and conduct a carefree, self-serving lifestyle?

This goes back to the most fundamental of moral questions and I have not found any justification that warrants this abject disregard of life that most are able to live with.

It's the power of love, isn't it?

 

[Terminus]

We're hard-wired to maximize self-interested short-term gains.

 

[shnurgleton]

they just don't know anything else

 

[TheGhost]

Eh....pretty easily. If I wasn't on here reading horror stories everyday I wouldn't know or give a shit because nothing in my life is impacted by it. So it's very easy to be unaware and not care.

 

[sphagnum]

Most people aren't trying to "live their life to the fullest", they're trying to get by under capitalism.

 

[nsilvias]

i do it because i know if i'm listening to people telling me how shit the world is 24/7 im going to want to kill myself.
some people don't know when to take a break from that shit.
the people who report the news deal with some really fucked up mental health issues reporting shit all day and then they pass those problems onto the viewer who can't stop tuning in. the news is bad for your health if you don't moderate it.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

Noone can know everything, so everyone is ignorant of something.

 

[Forearms]

It is literally impossible to solve all of the worlds problems as a single person. Our lives are far too short to exert all our efforts on trying to fix other people's circumstances. Donate/volunteer your time to causes that help others and try to live your best life.

 

[captive]

there's literally a phrase for this:

ignorance is bliss.

 

[Trey]

Rationalizing the massive amounts of human suffering world-wide required to furnish capitalistic first world living is none too appetizing for most people, I'd wager.

 

[SweetVermouth]

I pretty much reduced my consumption of news and terrible things people say about their lives to a minimum because it's making me even more miserable than I already am. It's enough when people I follow on twitter tell stories or retweet gofundmes.
What matters to me when it comes to important decisions like elections is that I still want to keep in mind how other people suffer which I do still because you only need some empathy and a brain to get there.

 

[Wojo]

Ignorance is bliss. So much truth to that.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

I mean if you are ignorant you don't really know it do you?

 

[Thorn]

Drugs.

 

[shaneo632]

I think you need to remember that not everybody is browsing liberal forums like Era every day, or really pays much attention to the news. A lot of people wanna do their 9-5, get home and chill out with their families without hand-wringing about the bigger picture. They don't wanna read about the shit going on in the Philippines or how minorities of all kinds are being oppressed in their own country.

Hell, I sometimes have to take a few days break from this site and the news in general because it just wreaks havoc on my anxiety and makes me feel like shit, but I also try to balance this against being informed about the world.

Not condoning the ignorance is bliss mindset obviously, but I don't think the mindset is particularly difficult to understand. Perhaps it helps that I live in a Conservative city and I'm used to people in my vicinity being quite blinkered to social justice issues.

 

[Strangelove_77]

It's probably not very difficult when you don't visit a forum that posts all the worst shit happening around the world like it's a competition.
I know it's hard to understand, but a lot of people DON'T want be angry and miserable all the time.

 

[nsilvias]

It's probably not very difficult when you don't visit a forum that posts all the worst shit happening around the world like it's a competition.

Click to shrink...

this too. some of ya'll really love shock news

 

[low-G]

It is all a matter of degrees isn't it? How much time per day do you devote to making a better future?

I think a lot of people don't have much time to worry about a future they might not see. Others only focus on one or two small things they care about -- and some of them have their fears manipulated.

 

[Deleted member 33533]

How do I live in ignorance? I don't know.

 

[SliceSabre]

Pretty easy honestly.

Like I make a point to not follow the news friday-sunday so that I can truly enjoy my weekends.

 

[Chivalry]

Because humans, by and large, aren't wired to care about anything beyond their immediate social circle and future, and expect that at the end things will turn out all right if they just continue to apply the least amount of effort required. They're also using what information they have and you can scarcely blame them for that.

 

[ninnanuam]

I care about stuff I try to buy as ethically as I can, I care about and donate to environmental causes, I always vote but I am still gonna have a good fucking time.

Fuck I only get one go round on this earth so I'm not going to make my life a crusade. I'm not taking on all the worlds ills myself and I'm not living in that mindset all the time, that's a recipe for anxiety and depression for sure.

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Easy, they don't know they're ignorant. And if they do they just don't give a shit.

 

[sanstesy]

Rationalizing the massive amounts of human suffering world-wide required to furnish capitalistic first world living is none too appetizing for most people, I'd wager.

Click to shrink...

It's impossible to rationalize morally.

I mean if you are ignorant you don't really know it do you?

Click to shrink...

Humans are also able to be easily ignorant about issues that they do know about. It's an ancient psychological precondition for survival.

 

[Snack12367]

Isn't that statement self-answering?

Ignorance breeds ignorance, to recognise ignorance of the self, requires some degree of self-awareness, which is what most people who are ignorant lack, because if they did, they most likely wouldn't be ignorant in the first place.

 

[sanstesy]

Isn't that statement self-answering?

Ignorance breeds ignorance, to recognise ignorance of the self, requires some degree of self-awareness, which is what most people who are ignorant lack, because if they did, they most likely wouldn't be ignorant in the first place.

Click to shrink...

Of course it is - it's obviously an rhetorical question.

There is no satisfactory answer here.

 

[Kill3r7]

Priorities. Some people live in the now whatever the fuck that means. Others are too busy, tired or numb trying to survive to give a shit about the future/thing they know nothing about.

 

[Window]

You don't know what you don't know

But really I think what you're talking about isn't ignorance, it's our limited capacity for empathy. We cannot constantly spend our energy thinking about all the injustices and atrocities occurring in the world. We would be rendered incapable of doing anything. However, while we're constantly bombarded with all the negative news happening around our town, nation, world most people seem to do very little about it. I think that's partly because there's no easy answers to address those injustices. It takes a lot of effort and energy to organise and engage the right channels to put forward your concerns (concerns alone are not answers but raising their profile asks society to move the task of coming up with solutions higher up the priority list).

 

[Deleted member 19066]

"Why aren't other people as ethical or socially conscious as me?"

Most people are just trying to get by. The people who hold most of the power for real, lasting change don't have much incentive to do anything else but perpetuate the status quo.

 

[bionic77]

People like to be happy.

If you spend all your time thinking about the injustice of the human experience and all the tragedies that happen that's not a good recipe for being happy.

 

[sanstesy]

"Why aren't other people as ethical or socially conscious as me?"

Most people are just trying to get by. The people who hold most of the power for real, lasting change don't have much incentive to do anything else but perpetuate the status quo.

Click to shrink...

Why are you so intimidated by these social and ethical problems that are truly a thing? This has nothing to do with moral standards.

And no, I'm sincerely asking people on here. Everyone clearly deals with this differently.

 

[$10 Bagel]

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Living is easy with eyes close, misunderstanding what you see

- Strawberry Fields Forever

 

[Deleted member 3465]

I think this concept is a bit flawed. There are always bad things going on somewhere in every single moment. I'd argue to be fully earnestly happy in any given moment is to be ignorant to someone else's suffering no? I don't see it as a bad thing. I think most people live in a constant state of negativity to begin with, it's alright to be happy. You're able to serve more people with a positive outlook than a bleak one. It's not to say you should completely ignore the injustices of the world, but you can't let them consume you either.

 

[Bakercat]

I think i'm dumb, but maybe just happy...

 

[misho8723]

Because many people only have strength to put up with their own problems... you want more people with mental problems? More stress? More people with depression? Not all people can deal with so much problems and issues around them.. people in modern times have already so much stress and depression because of work, partners, money, health, payments, houses/flats, kids, fitness, cars, bureaucracy, business, etc..

 

[Deleted member 46429]

I mean, there's only so much I can learn and even if I did learn only so much then I can do.

I try to do what I can, where I can, and push myself to do better but given how vast the world is that's I still won't know a lot. But, yeah, unless you're interested in physics or whatever my current special interests are I'm probably not going to know much. I'll know some current events in the world because I try to keep up with news, but again, of you want meaningful analysis or good takes there are better people to ask.

 

[LosDaddie]

It's probably not very difficult when you don't visit a forum that posts all the worst shit happening around the world like it's a competition.
I know it's hard to understand, but a lot of people DON'T want be angry and miserable all the time.

Click to shrink...

Louder for people in the back 🗣

 

[Dre3001]

Eh....pretty easily. If I wasn't on here reading horror stories everyday I wouldn't know or give a shit because nothing in my life is impacted by it. So it's very easy to be unaware and not care.

Click to shrink...

This is the answer in a nutshell.

Most people rarely watch or follow the news daily. They hear about the major events but don't follow every single story going on.

People are just trying to get by and only focus on things that interest them or directly impact their well being.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

Why are you so intmidated by my social and ethical standards. I'm not forcing them upon you.

And no, I'm sincerely asking people on here. Everyone deals with this differently.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's a healthy mindset to indulge in. Weighing other people against one's arbitrary moral standards mostly just serves to inflate one's self image, (which, ironically, just makes one feel shittier in the long run.) I also think it misses the forest for the trees, putting blame mostly on people working paycheck to paycheck, one bad hospital bill away from bankruptcy, since they make up most of the country. I think if you're going to judge people, you should be more discriminate on the basis of political and economic clout.

If you fall into despair every now and again because things are shitty on no one cares, that's fine. It happens to me, too. But making a topic on EtcetEra, practically speaking, is just asking for a misanthropic circle jerk and nothing more.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Ignorantly.

 

[PanickyFool]

Blissfully.

 

[Deleted member 1635]

Why are you so intimidated by these social and ethical problems that are truly a thing? This has nothing to do with moral standards.

And no, I'm sincerely asking people on here. Everyone clearly deals with this differently.

Click to shrink...

So what are you doing about it other than making incredulous posts on ERA?

 

[Gustaf]

like this

 

[Deleted member 38573]

how have you not lost your mind devoting your energy to every single social injustice in the world op?

some people just aren't aware because of their own social bubbles

some people are just jaded

 

[Forkball]

It's probably not very difficult when you don't visit a forum that posts all the worst shit happening around the world like it's a competition.
I know it's hard to understand, but a lot of people DON'T want be angry and miserable all the time.

Click to shrink...

So I shouldn't post my thread about the racist baby who drove a bus into a petting zoo for endangered animals?

 

[Zhukov]

The exact same way you're doing those things right now.

 

[BrassDragon]

The key ingredient is vilifying experts and anyone trying to educate you. Corrections aren't perceived as interesting new data but as attacks.

 

[SoundLad]

Everyone lives in ignorance in one way or another. No one person can know it all.

Also, Dunbar's Number makes it very hard for one to care or think about individuals who are not in their immediate circle of friends/family.

 

[Deleted member 6582]

How can anyone not? There is a certain level of cognitive load people can sustain. But especially if you pack it full of negativity then what's left for you? You actively ignore things because if you had to assume responsibility for all the world's problems you'd have put a gun to your head or hatefully villianized some other group to take the burden off. Good healthy people pick and choose battles.