Dealing with Blissful Ignorance
Do you or someone you know struggle with blissful ignorance? Blissful ignorance is when someone is unwilling to learn about things that are upsetting. Here are some tips to help them!
Have you had a friend that is unwilling to look at any information you give them? What about a parent that you keep urging to eat healthier because it would help with their chronic medical conditions, but they are unwilling to listen to you? Or maybe you even recognize that you turn a blind eye to important things because it’s too hard to think about. This is called blissful ignorance.
Blissful ignorance is when someone is unwilling to learn about things that are upsetting. Think of it like putting your fingers in your ears to block out what someone is telling you because it’s more comforting to stick with what you know, or rather what you don’t know. An example is telling someone that their favorite food is actually causing them chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. They don’t want to know the truth because it’s too hard to come to terms with, so they turn a blind eye and block it out, being ignorant to the facts laid before them.
Many people want others to think for them instead of them thinking for themselves. This is why people trust the government, their health care providers, and others instead of listening to their own body and for themselves. We are so heavily influenced by the opinions of others that we ignore our intuition. A good example is people who refuse to look at ingredients in their favorite food. They don’t want to look at a list of unnatural, man-made ingredients, food colorings, and other things. They may look, not know what the ingredients are, and continue with buying it since they refuse to look at the damage it’s doing to them. They find it delicious, so no matter the ingredients and sugar content, they’ll purchase anyway, thinking it’s safe since how could it not be safe when it’s on the shelves and approved by the FDA. This person may suffer with chronic health issues, but will not contribute it to the food they are eating. You may show them information about how bad the food they are eating is, but they refuse to listen to you as it goes in one ear and out the other.
This type of blissful ignorance is extremely dangerous, and the unfortunate truth is that this is how most people are, having others think for them and control their every action. If you know someone like this, how can you get through to them?
If you want to get through to someone who is suffering with blissful ignorance, do not be forceful. It is easy to get upset at someone for not seeing things your way and being aware of what’s going on around them, but think back to when you were ignorant. You didn’t know everything you do now overnight, so get through to the person in a peaceful way instead of thinking you’re the one in the right and forcing your opinion on them. When you do this, they’re more likely to turn the opposite direction.
Next is to tiptoe towards the disagreement. You can’t just jump right out and start with the topic you both disagree on. Rather, start with something that is smaller that is related that will get the person to say ‘yes’ and then question their own decisions. For instance, if someone is dealing with chronic pain and you know it’s related to food they are eating, instead of coming right out and saying that the food is bad for them and they need to eat better, ask questions. Express your concern for them and seek common ground, putting yourself in their shoes. Ask them if they want to feel better and listen to them. Oftentimes they do, but may not think it’s possible, but you can see that they get worse every time they eat something unhealthy. Then start to ease into the topic a bit, saying that what they eat plays a big part in their overall health, and that maybe something in their diet is causing them to feel worse. They may deny it, but again, take it slow and be calm about it, expressing your concern. Ease into the information that will help them and say it’s worth a try. It’ll be better for them to see your concern rather than you being forceful about them changing their diet.
Finding this article helpful?
Blissful ignorance affects many people, and it’s quite sad to see that so many rather have someone else think for them instead of thinking for themselves. However, you can break through to them by being patient. You cannot change anyone, but you can get them to question things about their life which will motivate them to change. When they begin to question and their mind starts moving, they will change. So, make your attempts to help them from a place of concern instead of anger and frustration.
Let me know how this works for you. Have a great day!
Additional Info
I’ve known many people that are unwilling to look at information. No matter how much I’d share with them, they’d never want to look or be informed. I was shocked since I didn’t understand how someone could have such a closed off mind. However, I then realized they were struggling with blissful ignorance. They were completely ignorant to the information I was presenting them and instead lived in their own world where everything was just fine, despite the fact that they were struggling. I started to learn some ways of getting through to them, and found the best to be letting them question their actions and the world by giving them just enough information to spark the flow of brain juices.
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