Is knowing better than not knowing
This, I believe to be a pertinent question
Weather it is better to indulge in bliss of ignorance
Or to be aware, and by so knowing, indulge in situational practicalities
In order to be prepared, it is necessity to know
But the inner turmoil of knowing can negate the advantage conferred by knowing
That is, the muddy water of a mind subjected to a fact, cannot; in some circumstances, engage in the cognitive emotionless process required to combat said circumstance

I'm afraid I don't know.

This could be a very interesting thread, will be intrigued to see what response is generated and where it leads.

Thecat, it is a pertinent question (philosophical ones generally are) ... the difficulty is, many people don't (or can't) confront the truth or the real issues. This is one of a range of psychological defense mechanism used to "cope".

Your thread reminds me of another, posted over 400 yrs ago,

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them ..."

It has been said "To be", in Hamlet's eyes, is a passive state, to "suffer" outrageous fortune's blows, while not being is the action of opposing those blows. Living is, in effect, a kind of slow death, a submission to fortune's power.

On the other hand, death is initiated by a life of action, rushing armed against a sea of troubles. A pretty hopeless project, if you think about it in terms of the questions you ask.

Thecat,
Everything that happens is determined by what has gone on before .

Until we are smart enough to know what has gone on before,we are kidding ourselves if we say "we know".

Life is not a punt - but we will never really know how the 1+1 = the 2.

One of my favourite examples of 'ignorance' is called, "A Letter From Granma."

I got a letter from my granma yesterday, she writes ...
The other day, I visited a local Christian bookshop and spotted a,
"Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker for the car.

So I bought the sticker and put it on the rear bumper of my
car.

Boy, am I glad I did! What an uplifting experience followed. I was
stopped at a red light at a very busy intersection, just lost in
thought about the Lord and how good he is and I didn't notice the
light had changed to green. It's a good thing someone else loves
Jesus too, because if he hadn't honked, I would never have noticed
the light change.

I found that lots of people love Jesus. Why, while I was sitting
there, the fellow behind me started honking like crazy, then he
leaned out of the window and screamed, "For the love of God,
GO! GO! GO! Jesus Christ, GO!" What an exuberant cheerleader he was
for Jesus.

I saw another man waving in a funny way with only his middle finger pointing up to the heavens. When I asked my teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant, he said it was an old native good-luck sign he'd read about.
Well I leaned out of the window and gave him the good-luck sign
back. My grandson burst out laughing. Even he was enjoying the
religious experience.

I noticed the light had changed to green for the second time,
so I waved to all my sisters and brothers, and drove on through the
intersection.

I noticed that mine was the only car that got through before the light changed to red again. I felt rather sad that I had to leave them
after all the love we had shared, so I slowed the car down, leaned
out of the window and gave them the native good luck sign with my
middle finger one last time as we drove away!

Praise the Lord for such wonderful people.
Love,
Gran.

Foxy, I loved your post, couldn't stop laughing. Your Gran is a wise and funny woman :) I hope you'll be sharing another letter from your granma with us in the future.

Well, my answer to thecat's question would be that I'd love to know the truth about everything.
The thing is, that the truth always seems to be untouchable to me.
When I believe 'I've got the truth' about something, there's always some information around the corner that makes me doubt it.

If it's a choice between the security of faith, which is based on nothing but belief without evidence, or the truth- I'll have to say I'd choose to chase the truth even though the way to the truth is full of doubt.

Albert Einstein:
"No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong."