Is ignorance bliss?

Is ignorance bliss?

I am a debater and at a recent tournament the topic was "The United States ought to extend to non-citizens accused of terrorism the same constitutional due process protections it grants to citizens." This blog is not about foreign policy so I will not give you  my opinion but, in this round I was arguing for due process. I argued that a public trial is essential to justice. My opponent asked me "Do you think ignorance is bliss?" That took me by surprise. I thought that ignorance was bliss because I never thought about it; I just accepted it. Is that ignorant? I came to the conclusion that while it may be easier to just not know, it doesn't solve in any problems (and in that case it isn't the way to achieve justice). Same with the environment. While ignoring the pollution may make our minds less polluted, it doesn't solve anything. In fact, it just makes it worse because then we are not even doing the very limited preventative measures that we do now. Don't let the blindfolds of ignorance disable us from solving things. Remove that handicap and make the world a better place.