Ignorance is bliss?

While The Great Gatsby and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz clearly do an excellent job discussing the obsession with wealth that has infected today's society, their takes on the emphasis our culture places on ignorance, or lack thereof, were also incredibly interesting to me. As Daisy mentions her wish for her daughter to become a "beautiful little fool" and John's world comes crashing down upon his realization that his relationship with Kismine was merely a distraction from the clock ticking ever nearer to his murder, it definitely seems as though the characters in both works associate ignorance with happiness. But is this really the message the stories are trying to convey?

In a sense, ignorance is inevitable. As much as some might like to believe they do, no one truly knows everything, and so whether or not this gap in information exists in an area that is critical, it still presents a space for ignorance to fill. With our society constantly seeking to gain as much knowledge as possible, it seems as though all efforts are being extended to combat this, and while I completely support the new discoveries being made that are revolutionizing the world, I definitely don't think a total absence of ignorance is what we truly want.

A while ago, I saw a question posted online asking: If you could know how or when you'd die, would you want to? Although a lot of people would respond "yes" to this question in the moment, think about the implications behind possessing those answers. While those dying of old age would likely have a sense of relief, anyone anticipating a premature death would live the rest of their life to an emptying hourglass. If one knew their death would be the product of a car crash, they'd be forced to live in constant fear of an everyday object most of us take for granted. This being said, I think that as important as it is to be aware of everything going on in the world, ignorance still has a part to play in life that can't be ignored.