Throughout the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude we see how the people of Macondo are seperated from the rest of the world and ignorant to the technology and discoveries of the time. During this period of ignorance we see how Macondo is a magical place where the people live in peace. As technology reaches Macondo and the town develops we see how the magic fades away and the town almost becomes corrupted. The more the town develops, the more the inhabitants forget how it once was and why it was founded. When it is all forgotten, the town becomes destroyed and forgotten. The knowledge they gain from the outside world causes them to forget how the town once was. This is the curse of knowledge
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With this thought in mind, it makes me wonder, the idea of obtaining as much knowledge as we can in our lifetime has always been appealing to humans (we're all aware of this as we're preparing to apply to colleges right now), but are there things out there that we maybe shouldn't know about? Humans are curious beings and problem-solving is what civilized us, but maybe ignorance really is bliss and we shouldn't try to find answers to everything. Maybe our primitive nature is underrated... this thought reminds me of a book we read freshman year called "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer when the main character goes off the grid and tries living in the wild completely isolating himself from society, but [SPOILER ALERT] his ignorance is what inevitably kills him :/ So yes knowledge might help us pick between poisonous and nonpoisonous berries, but does it make us happier?
To further elaborate on what Cameron said, just the exposure to any outside influences not only corrupts Macondo, but isolates it even more. As Marquez explained, foreign countries measured Latin America with the same yardstick that they measured themselves with. And we know that Macondo serves to represent Latin America. The judgement and disrespect from any outside influence in the book is just taken by the citizens of Macondo as they are pushed around. So, this also contributes to the corruption and loss of "magic" as Cameron says. With the new technologies comes these outsiders like Moscote and the Banana Company. The judgement and control of these influences therefore even more ironically isolates Macondo, even though they are more connected to other cultures.
Yes, I do believe knowledge makes us happier. Civilizations all have to start somewhere, but a constant pursuit of knowledge is what helps that civilization to grow and prosper. The influence of western civilization is what ultimately corrupts the village of Macondo since they didn’t have a concrete identity or culture to defend. Knowledge does not corrupt but instead helps one obtain success within their community by building on whatever base their village lies on. It is what we do with knowledge that ultimately leads to our success or demise.
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