Ignorance is(n't) bliss

Ok, so there's not too many exciting things that have happened in my life this past week. I mean, as far as I'm permitted to reveal on this blog at least. Theoretically, I definitely could have saved the world and you not have ever even known one thing about it. For all you know, I've got connections with the MIB.

I'd be in the pic but somebody had to take it. 

Sadly though, I didn't save the world and had a fairly normal and event-free monday through friday. So, I thought I'd stray from the norm and write about something a little different. I'm just spitballing here. Totally random...how about...

Ignorance is bliss (at least in the movies)

For example, if the MIB existed (they do) and the movies (documentaries) were for reals (they are) then that would mean you and I would be (are) in complete bliss concerning the state of the Universe. We go about our lives totally unaware of the impending doom we are certain to face and all that stands between us and total annihilation is the fresh prince and Tommy Lee... or if you live in the Marvel universe - Hawk Eye.

Because he totally saved the world.

In the movies, us civilians are always oblivious to the catastrophes headed our way. Of course as the audience we know all along that the Titanic does in fact sink, or that those dinosaurs just wont be content behind their fences, and we certainly wouldn't be ok with Bond grabbing the correct set of nuke codes in the prologue. We love conflict, we love drama, we love stories that stack our hero's up against the most unsurmountable odds.
Why?
Well, first off, it would just be boring as ever if that weren't the case.

"Houston, we totally don't have a problem." 

Secondly, it makes for good movie material. You can't have a story without some conflict or tension, and the more a film or book can build that up the better. And the best part of it all is that after the movie's over we can just get up and walk out. We aren't left with the devastating effects of the movie's reality. It is, after all, just a movie. When Earth's last hope was cast upon the likes of Bruce Willis and his rag-tag oil drilling team, you and I didn't have to suffer through all the PTSD that would have inevitably followed for most of civilization.

Speaking of Armageddon...

This last week an asteroid (lovingly named DA14) big enough to wipe out New York City came within 17,000 miles of our planet. Doesn't seem close until you realize that most of our satellites are in orbits further away than that. Ok, so no big deal you might say. It came close, but we've known it was coming for years and years and years and we knew it wouldn't hit us and ..... WHOA!

Out of nowhere another space rock slams into our atmosphere completely unannounced, not invited, and very matter-of-factly. How rude.

Ya. That exact same day DA14 was passing by our planet, mother Russia got a little surprise.
And when I say little I really mean 7 to 12 thousand ton rock little. The comet, one completely separate an unassociated with the other huge asteroid, exploded and broke apart in our atmosphere before it could hit the Earth. It wasn't anything to be too concerned about, however it was big enough for the shock of the explosion alone to shatter glass windows and send over 1,000 people to the hospital.

No doubt this is a rare occurrence, but it goes to show just how vulnerable we are. How ironic that on the one day that so many eyes were turned to the skies to view DA12, a day that should have been proof of humanities ability to be "in the know" about such things, a day that we all knew, in a sense, there's no need to worry about it, that same day - another rock took us by surprise.

I'd go so far as to say that the level of our  ignorance isn't as dissimilar to the movies as we'd like to think. Honestly, I'd say it's worse, because our ignorance is almost a willing ignorance. What do I mean?

I guarantee you I could ask 10 average, normal Okies who won the Thunder game last night and 8 out of 10 would be able to tell me instantly. They'd probably even go on to quote some statistics and special moments, too. Now, ask those same 10 people which country just went forth with their third Nuclear test and odds are you wont have the same fervent regurgitation of facts. I'm not ripping on Okies here either. It's just us as a people in general. America. It's not that we don't like being "in the know" about the rest of the planet. It's just that we really aren't bothered that much if we aren't.

"Did you hear about Syria invading..."
"SHHH! Pawn Stars back on!"