Ignorance is Bliss (Republic)

When I was little, I used to stand in front of the mirror and wonder what life was about. I would be going about my everyday life when these thoughts would strike me and I would find myself just standing there, staring at myself in the mirror, and thinking.

What is life. Why am I here? How am I alive with my own thoughts? One day i'm going to die. Life is so weird.

I don't know why, and i'm not sure how to describe it. I just got suddenly really aware of the fact that I was a living, breathing, thing. I usually tried to ignore these thoughts and push them away, because they always left me feeling small, conflicted, and confused. Maybe this is why this part of The Republic stuck with me.

Gold souled people are extraordinary. They are smart, talented and selfless but, they are also unhappy. The people with the most beautiful minds are never happy. "The several classes will receive that proportion of happiness which nature assigns to them." (pg 90) 

Gold souls are guided out of 'the cave' that the general public lives in. When they escape the cave they can see true forms. They learn about all kinds of amazing things and new ideas. They are enlightened by the outside world. Then they are forced to re enter the cave. They go back to society and live among all the cave dwellers who don't understand.

I remember reading the paragraph that described this. I must have reread it ten times because I didn't want to believe it. I felt like the gold souls deserved more, that they were being stifled.

I have always thought that the purpose of justice was to make people happy. Justice used to make me think of police cars and supreme courts. Justice is there to make us feel protected from the bad guys, and that makes us happy. The Republic twists this idea because there is lots of justice, without happiness.

I'm still not entirely sure what justice is, but I feel like the gold souls are being cheated. Not being able to live to their full potentials is not just. The wisest people get the worst lives.

Apparently smart people are more likely to be depressed. They are enlightened gold souls living next to a bunch of unenlightened bronze ones. When you feel like no one understands, that messes people up.

So, I wonder, is this society still just if some lives suck while others are great? Maybe leaving the cave is not actually a good thing, if when you return you will be alone. Ignorance is bliss. (So why am I so set on seeking more knowledge?)