Better to know, or not?
Hypothetical situation (of course):
Someone has an opinion NOT based on experience but on what they have been told is proper -- for instance, "chocolate is icky so don't bother to try it" by a well-meaning parent. All through life, the person has felt vaguely superior to those who profess a liking for chocolate and puzzled by why they claim to like something the opinion-holder has been told on good authority is icky. "Chocolate cake? Oh, no thank you, I never eat chocolate *wince*, it is ICKY *shudder*."
(Of course, take any given concept for "chocolate" and any given negative attribute for "icky". And if I actually had to mention this, well, who are you and how did you stumble across this blog? I DO have warning signs up, y'know.)
Eventually the person may actually try the despised item/practice/thought by accident or by design.
They discover they actually LIKE it.
NOW they feel *guilty* for liking it; they have betrayed their beliefs/parents/teaching/whatever.
OR they become that most annoying of creatures, an enthusiastic convert -- "Here, you must try this, it is wonderful, what do you mean it will kill you, you are allergic to it, try it anyway! Oh, you HAVE tried it and you don't like it? WHAT is WRONG with you that you don't LIKE it, OBviously you have never tried the RIGHT TYPE which is RIGHT HERE that I am shoving at you!"
OR they try it, they like it, but their body has a bad reaction to it (allergy). Now they know what they're missing.
OR they try it, they like it, but they have a specific set of beliefs developed through their own thoughts/practice (not given them by someone else / not brainwashed) and this item they have found that they like, they cannot partake of without violating their belief system (for instance, bacon for an ecologic vegan or a religious non-pork eater). They tried it by accident or by necessity and found it good, maybe they even WANT it again, but they *should* not eat it by their beliefs.
OR, best case for them, they actually do NOT like it. Now they know and have peace about the matter.
Better that they should KNOW it is good and they like it, so they have that information along with the desire? Or better if they hadn't ever known?
"There is no virtue without temptation."
Someone has an opinion NOT based on experience but on what they have been told is proper -- for instance, "chocolate is icky so don't bother to try it" by a well-meaning parent. All through life, the person has felt vaguely superior to those who profess a liking for chocolate and puzzled by why they claim to like something the opinion-holder has been told on good authority is icky. "Chocolate cake? Oh, no thank you, I never eat chocolate *wince*, it is ICKY *shudder*."
(Of course, take any given concept for "chocolate" and any given negative attribute for "icky". And if I actually had to mention this, well, who are you and how did you stumble across this blog? I DO have warning signs up, y'know.)
Eventually the person may actually try the despised item/practice/thought by accident or by design.
They discover they actually LIKE it.
NOW they feel *guilty* for liking it; they have betrayed their beliefs/parents/teaching/whatever.
OR they become that most annoying of creatures, an enthusiastic convert -- "Here, you must try this, it is wonderful, what do you mean it will kill you, you are allergic to it, try it anyway! Oh, you HAVE tried it and you don't like it? WHAT is WRONG with you that you don't LIKE it, OBviously you have never tried the RIGHT TYPE which is RIGHT HERE that I am shoving at you!"
OR they try it, they like it, but their body has a bad reaction to it (allergy). Now they know what they're missing.
OR they try it, they like it, but they have a specific set of beliefs developed through their own thoughts/practice (not given them by someone else / not brainwashed) and this item they have found that they like, they cannot partake of without violating their belief system (for instance, bacon for an ecologic vegan or a religious non-pork eater). They tried it by accident or by necessity and found it good, maybe they even WANT it again, but they *should* not eat it by their beliefs.
OR, best case for them, they actually do NOT like it. Now they know and have peace about the matter.
Better that they should KNOW it is good and they like it, so they have that information along with the desire? Or better if they hadn't ever known?
"There is no virtue without temptation."