If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Do We Seek Knowledge?

I was recently asked this question and was dumbfounded. Of course, I could have resorted to Socrates' "the unexamined life is not worth living," but then I realized that ignorance IS bliss. Applying this to technology, our blind consumption of innovations and inventions is largely due to two things. Firstly, is the complexity and the constant changes in the technology. More often than not, the ordinary consumer is not learned enough to understand the composition and the process of products utilized in everyday life. I personally do not know anyone who can explain how a sim card can connect a caller to a person on the other side of the world. Secondly, our lack of knowledge of technology may be attributed to plain laziness. Of course, we can argue that we are not to blame because there are far more important matters to attend to than understanding why cell phones operate the way they do. As long as they do their job, we are happy and we can get on with our lives. I remember in college Philosophy, we discussed how we are a society of detachment. That we operate without thought and we are only concerned with the end product. The danger in this is two-fold as well. First, we lack the appreciation for these inventions and the processes on which they operate. Second, our huge reliance (as it is now a necessity) on technology has a flimsy foundation. When our computers bug down, we seldom know what to do. Even car trouble becomes a nightmare. Perhaps this is the reason why the Y2K scare became a huge issue. We are unprepared because we are dependent yet ignorant. I offer no solution. :-)


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