Ignorance is Bliss

When we were young, we lived a life of simplicity. We trust every word others say. We are often cheated by others who tell lies. Our parents often does it to pacify us and to distract our attention. Many of them simply give promises but never keep it.

As we grow older, we began to distinguish what is true and what are lies. However, due to our inexperience we often fell for beautiful lies that sounded authentic. We often met people who tell us one thing and does another behind our back. We often encounter people who tell lies about us even in our absence. We often met people who will mislead us in the wrong direction.

As age grows, we began to be a bit wiser by distinguishing the truths from the lies, the faces behinds those lies and the real aim of those who told lies. It is like an all out warfare between people. There were attacks and there were defences. All these were done by just words.

When you come to an age where nothing actually matters already. You will hear less and less words.  Words are still spoken. The ears have already a built in filter and automatically let the words go through one and goes out the other. 

Human being is the only one that uses spoken words. It started with just a few simple sound to evolve into today's complex language. People began to use words to express more than what is spoken. It is so complex that other methods of understanding a person has to be used. Things like expression, body language, environment etc are used just to figure out what is the actual meaning.

Practically any one that wants to convey a message without actually saying it uses different ways to convey the message. If you know a person well enough, you can even guess what actually the person's message. There were some saying that old couples will convey message to each other without even saying it.

People always say something that is closely related to the environment. Do you know that greetings in different country actually has a background to it. "Good Morning" is often a greeting about the weather. Chinese Hokkien uses "Jia ba buay" (have you eaten) as a greeting. It actually derives from a period of hardship. Malay uses "apa kabar" (what is the news) and "selamat pagi" (safe morning). "Salam" in Arabic means "peace" etc. Ancient books often uses words like that. Modern people usually try to interpret those words in the environment of the time.  It is therefore very important to know what is the environment at the time the words were spoken. Using words that does not suit the environment often lands you in trouble.

It is then a headache to know what people are saying. There were always jokes about woman saying one thing and actually means the exact opposite (no offence). There were always occasions that you do not want to hurt people by saying the exact word. You will twist the words so that it does not hurt or offend the person. Sometimes you will have to tell white lies to protect the person. Often, you will actually lied just to get out of a predicament.

Thus, we live in a world that often use words but means another thing. It is then a skill to learn about what is spoken and what it actually means. It is really a burden in trying to understand what is behind every word that is said. When you had it enough, you tends to keep away from people. 

How I longed to go back to a life of a child. They are simple minded. Speaks what they think. Actually, do you really think that kids are that simple? They are fast learners. 

In conclusion, I would like to quote Thomas Gray's poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)." "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.".