Although true in a practical sense (NYT cited a study on older people where in which more introspective types were less happy) I reject the option of extra happ

Although true in a practical sense (NYT cited a study on older people where in which more introspective types were less happy) I reject the option of extra happiness brought about by lack of knowledge, e.g. To each his sufferings: all are men, Condemned alike to groan; The tender for another's pain, The unfeeling for his own. Yet ah! why should they know their fate? Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies. Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. (Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College", this is the origin of the term "Ignorance is bliss". The notes on this stanza are worth a read: http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/comment.cgi?text=odec&fromline=99&toline=99&type=explanatory&sort=annotation http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/comment.cgi?text=odec&...). Would you rather be Cypher happily eating his steak in a fictional world or the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar living in a real but wretched world? I would choose the latter but this is by no means an easy question.