I stuff “The Oedipus Cycle” into my backpack as I head off to Bulfinch for another day of classes. As I enter the classroom, I see some students finishing the assigned reading cringing at the fact that Oedipus has been sleeping with his mother, Iocaste. As the teacher walks into the classroom, coffee mug in hand, students exclaim, “If I were Oedipus, I would rather be ignorant than know that I had just slept with my mother!” Oedipus, the chosen leader of the city of Thebes, is destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother, while remaining ignorant that these two people are his parents. After discovering the truth Oedipus, overtaken by shame for what he has done, gouges his eyes out. This story brings up a big question: is it better to be ignorant and blissful or to deal with the truth, no matter how hard the reality may be? I choose the latter. This idea that ignorance is bliss can be applied to many parts of our lives, including how we choose to stay engaged with the world. For example, with over 300,000 people dead in Darfur, people should be ashamed for not keeping up with current events in Sudan. A typical counter to this argument is that staying informed may only lead to unecessary stress about uncontrolable events. Stress that might have been completely avoidable. But I think we have a responsibility to keep ourselves informed. Even if the newspaper seems boring, we should take the extra half an hour to keep up with the world. Choosing to remain ignorant is one of the most selfish acts one can commit. Ignorance breeds apathy. And apathy is dangerous because as it grows people stop caring about society, and then about themselves I remember when an activist from Kenya came to speak at my middle school, discussing what sort of treatment women and children were receiving from the men in their society. What sticks out in my mind is not so much what she had to say, but how my peers reacted. They were disgusted and bewildered. However, there was no discussion about what could be done, but more of a fascination with the situation. Obviously, to know is not enough. We have a responsibility to be activists. We have an obligation to produce change in the world around us. Ignorance can also be a matter of life or death. Suppose the government was planning to round up all of the redheaded people and send them to labor camps in northern Canada, and a large chunk of the redhead population chose to remain ignorant by not reading the paper. Wouldn’t millions of lives be saved by just lifting a veil of ignorance? We live in a special country, where ordinary citizens can produce change for the better. The only way that we can have a voice is if we keep ourselves informed. There are those who have no voice, who cannot speak for themselves. Yet we have the power to bring these people justice through our own knowledge. In the case of Oedipus, supernatural forces were at work. The gods were in control of his fate. Yet once he realized the truth of his fate, he could stop sleeping with his mother and know the truth. Perhaps the act of gouging out his eyes did not display the best mental health, but the whole story is a metaphor for the disgusting truth that we choose to ignore. In essence, I would want to know that I was sleeping with my mother so that I could change the situation for the better. Enough said. Ben Talarico is a three year Upper from Suquamish, WA. btalarico@andover.edu
