Ignorance is a choice. If you choose to be ignorant, that you are welcoming the possibility of misfortune. And that is exactly what I did in college.
One semester, I took an English Literature class. On the second day, he handed out a test. I was shocked. I raised my hand and asked what the test was over as we hadn’t been assigned anything to read. He smirked and put the test down on my desk. I read the words, “Syllabus Test.” Ugh. Clearly, having only skimmed the syllabus the day before, I missed the part saying there would be an exam. And naturally, I failed the test because I ignored the information given in my resources to pass. Yes, off to a great start, precious. Lesson learned.
When you choose to not do your own due diligence with things, you invite the real possibility of misfortune. These are things that could potentially have been avoided if you had taken the time to educate or prepare yourself. But could there also be a benefit to ignorance?
Before you say no, consider this. In a Tedx Talks, Tom O’Neill talks about the power of willful ignorance. He talks about how mankind has achieved things because they were ignorant to the fact that it couldn’t be done:
