“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…” -Robert Frost. Some people have the ability to content themselves with knowing nothing except the fact that our world is too complicated to fully understand, so they walk the path of blissful ignorance. While there are others that prefer to seek out the world’s mysteries and answer life’s unanswerable questions and walk the path of philosophy. To both parties, the other lifestyle appears ridiculous and unsatisfactory. To find your path, ask yourself this, “Do I need philosophy to be happy?” Many are satisfied by leaving well enough alone and prefer to not waste time on the unanswerable, however living this way would seem “empty” or “unsatisfactory”. It all boils down to how much you want to understand the world.
Philosophy is defined as “the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline”. Philosophy is a way to give meaning to one's life or as a way to answer many of life’s unknowns. Why was I born? Why was the world created? What’s the point of living? Most philosophies people live by are informal philosophies that are picked up from parents, relatives, or friends. However, there are other formal philosophies created by world renowned philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, etc. For many, philosophy gives people peace of mind about the world they live in. Curiosity begot philosophy.
For many people, however, philosophy is not a path they want to walk down. There are many reasons people use to explain their distaste towards philosophy; it’s unnecessary/useless, unsatisfactory, etc. Many just want to leave well enough alone. They aren’t desperately searching for life’s answers or the meaning of life itself. Blissful ignorance keeps them content and happy.
For some, philosophy brings happiness, while for others, ignorance brings happiness. It all depends on curiosity, how much you want to know and understand versus how much you want to keep a mystery. Curiosity is not an act that should be frowned upon. The quote “curiosity killed the cat” does not end there as “satisfaction brought it back”. Remain curious and explore every facet of life that you so chose.
