The Heavier the Crown, the Greater the Responsibility#
Recently, Gu Ailing has become popular and has faced increasing criticism despite winning trophies. While being in the spotlight and being well-known can bring advantages, it also comes with the pressure, exposure, and malicious comments that come with the trophies. Being famous attracts controversies.
This reminds me of the saying: "The heavier the crown, the greater the responsibility." And also this one: "God closes one door while opening another window for you."
Gaining and losing always happen at the same time.
Does Knowing Too Much Make Us Unhappy?#
There is a phenomenon:
- When we were children, we believed that we were the protagonists of this world. But one day, when we suddenly realized that we are just ordinary people, we could no longer see the world from the perspective of a "protagonist."
- When we unintentionally learn a secret about a friend, that secret can potentially affect our social interactions when we meet that friend again.
For most people, their satisfaction with themselves starts to decline around the age of 15. From that point on, a person gradually realizes their insignificance in this world and begins to struggle and fight in the so-called ideal and distorted reality.
The more we know, the louder the inner struggle becomes, and the unhappier we become.
In the novel "Ordinary World," there is a passage that says: "Who let you read so many books and know that there is a big world beyond Shuangshui Village... If you had been working in this world since childhood, working from sunrise to sunset, then you would have the same ideal as your fellow villagers: after years of hard work, you would marry a satisfactory wife like the eldest brother, have a chubby son, and with your physical strength, become an outstanding farmer. Unfortunately, you know too much, think too much, and that's why you have this kind of distress that people around you cannot understand."
You were supposed to live a simple and happy life, but you saw happiness that doesn't belong to you. When desire exceeds capability, pain is born. The clash between newly acquired knowledge and the worldview creates unhappiness.
If the gap in understanding is too large and disappointment lasts for a long time, the worldview will collapse. What should we do then?
Reconstructing Our Worldview#
Since knowing too much "may not" be a good thing, and since we have already gained new understanding of reality, and moreover, once we know something, we can never return to our previous state, and we roughly know that this pain and unhappiness are caused by conflicts in our worldview. Knowing the reason, we cannot just sit and wait for death. There is only one thing we must do: correct our flawed worldview, actively understand the real world, and persist even if it is painful. Instead of turning a blind eye, covering our ears, deceiving ourselves, or ignoring reality.
First edition of "The Curse of Knowledge" on July 28, 2023.
Changed to "Seems Like the More We Know, the Unhappier We Become" on August 30, 2023.