A Game Plan for Weak Willpower
Is Ignorance Bliss or Misery?
I remember the moment I discovered Santa Claus wasn’t real–St. Nicholas in my case growing up in Germany. Just as Santa called me to come forward in a family friends’ living room, I glimpsed a familiar face behind a fake beard. In an instant six years of St. Nicholas hopes and joys collided with the face of Mr. Reinhard, our family friend. Should I continue to walk toward him or announce my revelation? Unwilling to invade my bliss any further, I proceeded to sit on his lap. In that moment I implicitly understood that ignorance was truly bliss.
Childhood does and should have a certain amount of bliss. Children do not share the burdens of responsibility and the knowledge of life’s complexities. Like a sapling tree that is staked for support, parents protect their children from storms that threaten to break them. Information is shared on an as-needed and age-appropriate basis. As independence develops and the child’s mind becomes more mature, the child stands firmer in the storms of life. Eventually, when the trunk is stable, the stakes are removed. So, ignorance has its place for a while.
Ignorance is bliss goes back to a British poem which concludes, “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.”* Adam and Eve illustrate the truth of this idiom when Eve eats the apple from the tree of knowledge after God specifically asks Adam not to partake. Adam and Eve lose their innocence and special status in Eden and bear the terrible consequences of their disobedience. Through their decision, driven by curiosity, they–and we–lose Paradise. Since then, ignorance is bliss is more of a temptation than a desired state of mind. The temptation to plug our ears is acute in a world overloaded with too much information and dire need. How do we cope with a formidable prognosis, significant loss, or crushing circumstance?
Shielding ourselves from the stark realities of life is not the answer. If Jonas Salk, who developed the first vaccine for polio, had been ignorant of the suffering polio caused, there may still be polio. If Mahatma Gandhi had no knowledge of the suffering of his own people, they might not have obtained freedom. We need a game plan to maintain confidence and a semblance of happiness, not to mention to benefit others.
I turn to The Odyssey for a game plan. I’m currently teaching my high school students Homer’s classic of Odysseus’ return to Ithaka after twenty years of war and hardship.** Lady Kirke, the enchantress, on whose island he has been marooned for a year–admittedly, it wasn’t all bad for him there–has just revealed to him the formidable obstacle of the sirens he must face on his journey home. No one would blame Odysseus for preferring ignorance is bliss at this point on his treacherous journey. But he does not give in because he wants to see his wife and son, and he has withstood fiercer battles.
Kirke’s advice on how to get past the sirens contains a practical lesson for us today. She enjoins Odysseus to "Listen with care to this, now, and a god will arm your mind.” The verb "arm" indicates that the upcoming temptation is a battle requiring the resolve of a soldier. Kirke does not whitewash the intense consequences of not heeding her advice but warns, "woe to the innocent who hears that sound! He will not see his lady nor his children in joy, crowding about him, home from sea; the Seirenes will sing his mind away on their sweet meadow lolling.” Ignorance is, in fact, misery.
It is prudent to be aware and foolish to be ignorant. Those who are unaware of the dangers will see death because the sirens will sing away their minds. Homer’s diction contrasts the sweetness of the song with the bitterness of its consequences. The phrase "on their sweet meadow lolling" indicates that the temptation does not appear bitter or dangerous, just sweet and inviting, which has parallels to the Adam and Eve narrative. Perhaps ignorance is bliss is our great temptation on this side of Eden.
Wisdom and knowledge are not, however, enough; Odysseus must have a game plan to make it past the sirens. This is key. He must take action to prevent the knowledge from causing harm. Odysseus is a wise leader here because, rejecting the proposition that ignorance is bliss, he shares Kirke's advice with his men to prepare them for what's ahead. To Kirke's flowery description of the temptation Odysseus adds, "Seirenes weaving a haunting song over the sea we are to shun... and their green shore all sweet with clover.” He understands the hypnotic allure of temptation and the vulnerability of his men, and he takes appropriate and decisive steps to protect them against themselves at this crucial time. Good leaders know when to step in and when to hold back. They know a practical game plan inspires confidence to avoid retreat and defeat.
The game plan centers on the limits of willpower, an experience we all have. Research shows that willpower is like a muscle, but it is a weak one which gets tired when you use it too much. Something more is needed. Kirke warns Odysseus to "[s]teer wide" and "plug your oarsmen's ears with beeswax kneaded soft" to completely block their cry. Steering wide is not enough; they are not allowed to hear the siren cry at all. This is a good kind of plugging one’s ears. They are plugged not to avoid knowledge but to defeat temptation. It is precisely a lack of awareness of our limits that causes us to put our heads in the sand and pretend all is well.
Odysseus may hear the siren song, but he must be tied to the mast. If he cries to be untied, he will be "lashed to the mast.” The verb "lashed" is harsh and cruel, evoking images of slavery. Odysseus will become a slave to temptation if he is not lashed tightly to the mast. Odysseus needs his crew to save him from himself when the temptation proves deadly. Willpower, which Odysseus possesses in abundance, is insufficient to get him and his crew home. Because effective leaders and prudent people understand their own limits, they maneuver the storms of life with confidence. A good game plan is developed in community with others and is mutually supportive. Without one, we are overcome by fear and temptation, rightly so because the chance of failing is high.
Do you have such a community? If not, take steps to find one. If you do, be honest with them and depend on their help. We all need somebody to lean on when we get knocked down and our heads want to land in the sand.
*Gray, Thomas. “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.” Stanza 10
**The excerpts are from Book XII of Homer’s classic The Odyssey translated by Robert Fitzgerald.