Ignorance really can be bliss »

Is knowledge power or is ignorance bliss? A new free online course at The Australian National University (ANU) will explore the topic of ignorance and explain why there are some things in life people are better off not knowing. Course co-presenter Professor Michael Smithson, from the ANU Research School of Psychology, said while people thought of ignorance as being something negative, that isn't always the case. "One of the positive things that comes from ignorance is freedom," Professor Smithson said. "To have personal freedom you need parts of your life and your future that you don't know about, otherwise you're not free to make choices. If everything is laid out for you and you know all about it, you've got no freedom." He said researchers, artists and entrepreneurs all need ignorance to give them room to create, while a life where you know everything that is going to happen strikes people as being dreadful. "You need unknowns, otherwise there's nothing to discover and there's nothing new to create," he said. He said much of our entertainment also requires temporary ignorance.