Fahrenheit 451 Pg. 40-68

Q. Is it better to be ignorant and happy OR is it better to be aware, educated and disturbed at the world?

A. According to Captain Beatty when he was lecturing Montag. The captain believes that the state of mind in which you are ignorant and happy is much better than the latter. Books about philosophy ideology only clutter the mind with contradicting opinions, facts, and thoughts. It is better to know how something works rather than why because knowing why only upsets. Knowing how to do something makes one feel better and wiser. Rather than having multiple sides to a debate it is better to have only one (and even better none!) this is because one cannot feel or be complete with the lingering unanswerable state in which you feel alone. Book burnings started, not as an order from the government, but due to minority demand. Because of the increasing population size, the minority size too increased and soon controversy became an unsettling feeling in everbody's stomach. So rather than censor these books to gain a happy medium, destroying them all together was enforced. This made society an even and therefore happy playing field; with no one person making another feel dumber because of his or her lack of book smarts, and no one to judge themselves against to gain the feeling of unintelligence.

"Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal."