Is Ignorance Truly Bliss? | Rachel Aideyan | TEDxTheMastersSchool

Rachel Aideyan sums up the focus of her talk in this way: Ignorance is not simply good or bad. It all depends on the situation, where your mind is at in a particular situation, and your perception of that situation. Whether your situation is good or bad, there is a way to use ignorance as an advantage, to gain knowledge, to not be so miserable.
Rachel Aideyan is a junior who is very interested in medicine and social justice. Rachel recently began thinking about ignorance and how it is prevalent in many aspects of society: entertainment, music, fashion and politics. She thought about being Nigerian-American and the ignorance she saw regarding Africa. As she grew up, people she met automatically assumed that her family in Nigeria was living in poverty and that when she went to Nigeria she was living on the set of The Lion King. But then Rachel looked into the adage “ignorance is bliss” and the idea that ignorance is a good thing because it is an escape from the harsh realities that life throws at you. She wondered why ignorance was ever thought of as a good thing. She realized that there has to be different perspectives regarding ignorance. There has to be a reason why everyone did not think of ignorance in the same way. Rachel then discovered that ignorance is very complex. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx