Religion aside, It takes a fool to equate ignorance with bliss. In the context of the familiar cliché, “ignorance is bliss”, willful ignorance is little more than an illusionary shield used to protect a fragile mind from destabilizing information and ideas. Whenever I hear it, I wonder why anyone would want to protect themselves from information. Presumably, information perceived to be depressing or incongruent with an individual’s experience can be unsettling. The reality is, information and ideas are not always helpful or positive, and as a result learning can, at times, be a painful and regressive experience. Out of abject fear, individuals self censor and make excuses for important subjects outside the scope of their understanding. Ignorance has its place. It is important if only because ignorance has a role in our everyday lives. Specifically; secrets are a passive form of managing ignorance, while lies actively propagate ignorance.