You sound pretty confident that, if you believed that we were created as the pinnacle of design by a super-awesome Thing that had a specific plan in mind, and that your nation/tribe was even more pinnacle than everyone else, you would be happier than you are now.
Can you clarify your reasons for believing that? I mean, I grew up with a lot of people who believe that, and as a class they didn’t seem noticeably happier than the people who didn’t, so I’m inclined to doubt it. But I’m convinceable.
You got me, since during the time I did believe that I was a lot less happy than I am now, because that falsehood was part of a whole set of falsehoods which led to annoying obligations. But I do distinctly remember being satisfied with knowing the ultimate goal of the universe and my place in it, and how realising the truth made me feel unsatisfied.
The statement “the truth is never an unsatisfying thing” seems to be affect-heuristic reasoning: going from “truth is useful” to “truth is good” to “truth always feels good to know”.
Sure. To the extent that you’re simply arguing that the initial quote overreaches, I’m not disagreeing with you. But you seemed to be making more positive claims about the value of ignorance.
You sound pretty confident that, if you believed that we were created as the pinnacle of design by a super-awesome Thing that had a specific plan in mind, and that your nation/tribe was even more pinnacle than everyone else, you would be happier than you are now.
Can you clarify your reasons for believing that? I mean, I grew up with a lot of people who believe that, and as a class they didn’t seem noticeably happier than the people who didn’t, so I’m inclined to doubt it. But I’m convinceable.
You got me, since during the time I did believe that I was a lot less happy than I am now, because that falsehood was part of a whole set of falsehoods which led to annoying obligations. But I do distinctly remember being satisfied with knowing the ultimate goal of the universe and my place in it, and how realising the truth made me feel unsatisfied.
The statement “the truth is never an unsatisfying thing” seems to be affect-heuristic reasoning: going from “truth is useful” to “truth is good” to “truth always feels good to know”.
Sure. To the extent that you’re simply arguing that the initial quote overreaches, I’m not disagreeing with you. But you seemed to be making more positive claims about the value of ignorance.