39. When is Ignorance Better than Knowledge? | THUNK
Channel: THUNK
Date: 06/08/2014

Nerds like me have an itch to learn new things, but can scratching it be harmful? When is it better to not know?

-Links for the Curious-

An interesting Psychology Today editorial on the truth of the phrase "ignorance is bliss" - http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/headshrinkers-guide-the-galaxy/201108/is-ignorance-bliss

A paper documenting deteriorating mental health for patients diagnosed with terminal illness - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1291326/

A summary of the discoveries of super-virulent H5N1 strains - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/health/wisconsin-scientist-says-h5n1-flu-strain-he-created-is-less-dangerous.html?_r=0

A great philosophical inspection of truth & how we can know it - http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262622011_sch_0001.pdf

From Reddit user denijeur, a summary of a published paper in Science about how less information can sometimes result in better decision-making - http://www.eurekalert.org/features/kids/2011-11/aaft-fdl111111.php

And finally, from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an entry on the Total Perspective Vortex - http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Total_Perspective_Vortex