Ignorance is Bliss (or a Reasonable Facsimile)

In looking back on my life, I’ve come to a startling revelation: Every wrong decision I’ve ever made could have been avoided if I’d only been a little dumber.  You heard me right.  If only I’d taken the oft travelled path, if I’d limited my choice to the first two options that popped into my head, if I’d only asked myself: “What would Kim Kardashian do?”

But no, I overthought everything.                                                        

It seems every time I turn around someone is falling backwards into a small fortune; waking up from a night of hard drinking and finding a Mark Fidrych rookie card stuck to their forehead, or inheriting a silver mine in Wyoming from a Great Uncle they never even knew they had. 

Yes, ignorance truly is bliss.  Or, a reasonable facsimile.

                              
In a typical day I reckon I see a hundred or so people, shuffling down the street in seasonally inappropriate garb, with that far-off glazed stare; at the stop light, a finger run up their nostril to the second knuckle; in line at the Burrito Barn, phone out, getting ready to share the latest internet hoax with 1,627 online friends.  They care not one whit about global warming, human trafficking, or what the stock market is doing, and most are as content as a pig rooting in mud.

To be clear, I’m not talking about those with diminished mental acuity.  I mean reasonably intelligent people who’ve intentionally set the bar embarrassingly low, and don’t take any particular interest in climbing over it.  They’re phoning it in; they’ve chosen a dumbed down life, and when they’re honest with themselves, will admit it was a no-brainer.  Ignorance equals bliss.  In a manner of speaking.

So the next time you have a critical, even life-changing decision to make, do yourself a favor: Get a coin, and flip it.  Make sure you determine in advance which side means what.

Stay dumb out there.