Ignorance Is Not Bliss: A Problem Solution Report

Ignorance Is Not Bliss: A Problem Solution Report

They say “ignorance is bliss”. But to what extent is it true? In many situations, not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it; for example the case of a child who believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. One cannot but imagine the sadness and devastation that this kid will feel upon knowing that neither is real. Here, the child considers that not knowing the truth is better than actually having knowledge about it. But could this apply to the 14 year old teenage girl who believes that Kim Kardashian is a role model to follow and that her body is the dream body that all girls should have? Would this apply to an American family that is constantly scared and feels insecure because of their neighbors, just because they are black, Arabs or Mexicans? Common sense does not believe that.

These silly examples might sound ridiculous, yet they are no way far from reality. Nowadays, anyone could be exposed to anything in this digital world, thanks to – or is it because of – technology, social media in particular. With such exposure to an infinite amount of information, no one is keeping track of what is true out there and what is not. The problem does not only come from what’s proposed to the public, but also and mainly from those who blindly perceive that was is thrown at them is the one and only truth that should be believed no matter what. While this blindness is the cause of many conflicts that arise not only between people, but also within the person, it is the pure result of one and certain thing: ignorance. Defined by the Oxford Dictionary, “ignorance is the state of lacking knowledge, information or awareness about something either voluntarily or involuntarily”. The world today is facing a major problem: ignorance. Through the absence of independent thinking among Millennials because of social media, focusing on the body images, stereotypes that lead to discrimination and how the Western World views Arabs, ignorance is a dangerous enemy that should be taken down with the safest weapon available: education.

The generation of today is so reliant on social networks for any type of information, becoming less independent thinkers by abandoning books, making them less knowledgeable, and thus ignorant. This dependency is caused by the fact that today’s youth are spoon-fed information to a point where they are not incited to go out and obtain it on their own. Millennials, a word commonly used nowadays, refers to generation born between 1980 and 2000. According to the PEW research center and Adler, they are often identified as Digital Nisei, people who were raised in a digital media world (494). Unlike older generation that had to be introduced to technology and had to adjust to the digital new world, Millennials were born into it. They use social networking sites, such as Facebook, to create a different sense of belonging, record their daily steps and whereabouts every hour and remain connected with friends making them interacting all day but almost entirely through a screen. They confess about everything on these social networks forgetting that everyone can have access to them and nothing is private anymore. Therefore, they can connect to two worlds: a real and a virtual one (Adler 494). Being distracted by social networks and media, this generation of youth becomes less civically engaged and less active than any other generation, making it isolated because the more validation it receives through its online accounts, the less effort it invests in real life and face to face connections. Moreover, Millennials are focusing more and more on superficial details, becoming less interested about the world today. This is caused by the fact that entertainment networks are cheaper than what they used to be, granting them more power and dominance over news networks (Miller). Technology has allowed this generation to be inventive, yet kept them from finding out about the world outside their bubble, receiving and reading the news through Facebook, Twitter etc.

In other words, Millennials are the most educated yet choose to be ignorant. They perceive the world, its standards and its reality only through the screen of their technological gadgets. They are so taken away in their virtual reality, believing that what they see is how they should be in order to fit in society. Social media and mostly advertising tremendously helped create this virtual bubble, affecting how this generation observes the world and themselves by displaying false perfect images and life standards, leading to severe problems such as eating disorders. For example, the effects of the thinness culture in media constantly strengthen thin people as ideal stereotypes and place value on reaching the perfect body (Richards 328). Media images are inevitable, causing people to be devastated when they see idealized images in the media and feel they do not meet the expectations of the society. The person’s self-image gets distorted as they generally perceive themselves to be excessively fat for success and continue the unhealthy behaviors since they believe that achieving the perfect image is the major key to happiness in order to not feel excluded. By not reaching these expectations, people become lonely and try to console themselves by wasting time, such as watching TV, which aggravates the situation since TV is promoting these false idealized images (Monbiot 125). So, this age is mostly characterized by loneliness, which is becoming epidemic since each one is focusing on being the winner in order to be accepted by the society.

Fashion magazines and modeling agencies are plotting to make not only women but also men feel bad about their bodies. Women want to achieve size zero and men desire toned and defined muscles. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics reveals that nearly 18 percent of boys are highly concerned about their weight and physique (Cruz 333). Christy Turlington explains to Elle magazine “Advertising is so manipulative, there’s not one picture in the magazine today that is not airbrushed”. She continues, “What many women don’t realize is that the models in magazines often have bodies that are impossible. Photoshop and image retouching have become responsible for the creation of body types that could not be achieved by any real women”. Social media is becoming such a huge liability for this generation that relies on everything offered, even on health issues and life principles. The fact that they are so taken into this delusion without seeking a way out is nothing more than an affirmation to the ignorance this world lives in.

Ignorance is not only spread virtually through social media but is actually happening in real life with the promotion of discriminatory stereotypes. The most basic form of discrimination