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Homo Ignorans: Deliberately Choosing Not to Know.
Ralph Hertwig1, Christoph Engel2
1Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany hertwig@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
Summary
People often choose deliberate ignorance, consciously avoiding knowledge. This study explores the functions and implications of this common, yet understudied, phenomenon.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Decision Science
Background:
- Western thought traditionally values knowledge acquisition.
- Individuals frequently opt against seeking or utilizing information, a behavior termed deliberate ignorance.
- Psychological research has largely overlooked the study of ignorance, particularly deliberate forms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define and categorize deliberate ignorance.
- To explore the functional roles of deliberate ignorance across various domains.
- To analyze the normative desirability and potential modeling of deliberate ignorance.
Main Methods:
- Systematic categorization of deliberate ignorance types.
- Analysis of functional roles using diverse examples.
- Discussion of normative desirability and theoretical modeling.
Main Results:
- Deliberate ignorance serves significant functions.
- The desire not to know is a prevalent choice, not an anomaly.
- Reasons for deliberate ignorance necessitate sophisticated cognitive and economic theories.
Conclusions:
- Deliberate ignorance is a complex choice with individual and societal consequences.
- Understanding deliberate ignorance requires analyzing both the actor and their environment.
- Further research is needed to develop nuanced theories for this phenomenon.
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