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I'm sure by now we all should have at least a clue about what selective blindness is, but for those of you who may have missed it; selective blindness is choosing not to see the things in life that aren't in your favor. Let's be clear, it doesn't mean you are actually blind just choosing to avoid the undesirable. Through out the course of the week we have been talking about Oedipus and it is clear that he is very keen on using his selective blindness. In part one of Oedipus The King, Oedipus seems to be blatantly unaware of anything going on around him even though the obvious was right in front of him. We were all sitting there reading like, "Hello man! Don't you know that you're the problem?!" Well at first no, he didn't; and even if he did he was suppressing the knowledge. In Oedipus' case the selective blindness was not the best choice and was clearly detrimental, not only toward him but to the entire kingdom who continued to suffer from the plague. The real question is, is selective blindness ever really the answer? In my opinion, no. Now am I saying that we haven't avoided things from time to time? Absolutely not. I think that it is in our human nature to try and avoid the things we can't seem to handle (or do not want to handle), but it's not a solution for any problem. When we choose to be blind to something, it seems like we've solved the problem but in reality we probably have made it worse. In studying Oedipus I think we can see that if we are faced with a problem or issue that seems difficult, we should face it head on. Ignoring things does not make them go away and the moral of the story is, ignorance is not bliss.
Lillianna, I agree with you, I believe that selective blindness is never the answer. The best solution to a problem is to face it head on! The longer we ignore the truth of a situation, when it is finally revealed the result can be devastating just like in Oedipus' case.
ReplyDeleteNo selective blindness is not the answer. I mean, we do it time to time but it's not really worth it because the consequences will be worse than they were before. You should just face it head on and deal with it right then and there rather than prolong it. Oedipus could have solved his problem faster if he would have listened to Tiresias. He caused even more problems just by being in denial. You are right, ignorance is not bliss.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you guys. Avoiding your problems is never the answer, plus Oedipus had a prophet right in front of him, giving him the answers and he chose not to look into it. I do however think that his fate was unavoidable, selective blindness or no.
ReplyDeleteI agree! But we have to admit, if someone told us that we killed our father and maried our mother, we would look at them like "LOL are you serious? I don't wanna hear it" but of course avoiding the problem only makes the problem grow.
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