Folly to be wise.

Rowan Atkinson as Mr.Bean: Wise or Unwise!

     "Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life." - Lord Byron 
 
       We are overloaded with information from all sides. Every now and then, there is a dosage of information awaiting to be consumed by us. We are extremely privileged if we have the freedom to choose between consuming it or simply denying it. Because, as I see it, not all information is knowledge, and not all knowledge is wisdom. Above all, its not wisdom alone that drives our lives.
         Living in what is dubbed as the 'information era', I have due respect to the power of information and knowledge. I have been witness to incidents where the phrase 'knowledge is power' has lived up to its literary description and even beyond. But sometimes I do wonder how much of knowledge is sufficient power and does the excess of knowledge lead to disastrous consequences as does the excess of power?
       Though I doubt the absolute validity of Ernest Hemingway's statement "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know", the statement is not without its share of truth! Knowing much of a thing/event/person, beyond what is necessary neither adds to knowledge, nor serves any purpose. Or does it? I do not have a generalized answer yet and doubt if I will ever have one because its more of a circumstantial question. But I doubt if Obsessive Attention to Detail (OAD), which is advocated by few new age Gurus as an ingredient to the so called success, is really worth all that attention! Maybe in realms where it pays off to know, it is worth to know and in other arenas, it is simply best to shut up and enjoy the show!
          If you are an Engineer, and the more of the technicality you master, the better is the product you design. Now that is a case where 'you take care of the small things and the big things will take care of themselves.' But if you are married and you decide to dig into every detail of your spouse, then is it not a sure recipe for disaster? The small thing to take care here is not to interfere into their sphere of autonomy and not to dig deep because 'the devil is in the details'!
        The happiest of all are children. (These days, peer pressure and hyper competition seem to be screwing up their happiness too.) And why are they so happy? Because they do not need a reason to be happy. Its their innocence that leaves them lot happier than most of us can ever be. They dig either into the earth or into the walls but not into the details!

        Most acts, however kind and altruist, when dissected to the finer details and analyzed critically may reveal some gray shades. Rather than looking at the darker side of things, it is up to us to choose to appreciate the beauty of the brighter side. Is it such a huge crime to have few gray shades, after all we are all mortals and it is our love for our own selves that characterizes us!

       It is not that I advocate ignorance. I do not think any issue has a single, one-dimensional solution, unless within the covers of a text book! The solution of every issue has to be pursued on a case by case basis, considering its circumstantial and consequential factors. So, there is no legitimacy in claiming ignorance to be a pragmatic solution. But I find myself agreeing with Thomas Gray, who penned these lines -

Yet ah! why should they know their fate? 

Since sorrow never comes too late, 

And happiness too swiftly flies. 

Thought would destroy their paradise. 

No more; where ignorance is bliss, 

'Tis folly to be wise.

           Life is simply all about walking on the Razor's edge. We place our feet too hard, the razor pierces our feet and we bleed. We walk too lightly, we loose balance and fall. The only way to walk on it unharmed is to place our feet as hard and as soft as is required! Maybe there in lies the detailed secret!!