Ignorance

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What if ignorance really is bliss???

Ignorance is lack of knowledge about something in a being capable of knowing. Ignorance is the outcome of the limitations of human intellect or of the obscurity of the matters itself.

Ignorance, in an ethical sense, is the absence of information which one is required to have.

1 Pluralistic Ignorance
- 1.1 Consequences
2 Rational Ignorance
- 2.1 Applications
- 2.2 Criticism
3 Vincible Ignorance
4 Willful Ignorance
5 External Links
6 Relevant discussion threads on AboveTopSecret.com

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Pluralistic Ignorance

In social psychology, pluralistic ignorance is a process which involves several members of a group who think that they have different beliefs, perceptions, or attitudes from the rest of the group. They do not endorse the group norm, but they behave like the other group members, thinking that the behavior of the other group members shows that the opinion of the group is unanimous.

In other words, because everyone who disagrees behaves as if he or she agrees, all dissenting members think that the norm is endorsed by every group member but themselves. This reinforces their willingness to conform to the group norm rather than express their disagreement.

Due to pluralistic ignorance, people may conform to the perceived consensual opinion of a group instead of thinking and acting on their own perceptions.

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Consequences

Private levels of comfort much lower than the perceived average
Shifting of private attitudes toward the perceived norm
Increased sense of alienation
By-stander Effect
- People are more likely to intervene in an emergency situation when alone than when other people are present

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Rational Ignorance

Rational ignorance is a term most often found in economics, philosophy, and game theory. Ignorance about an issue is said to be "rational" when the cost of educating oneself about the issue sufficiently to make an informed decision can outweigh any potential benefit one could reasonably expect to gain from doing so. Therefore, it would be irrational to waste time doing so.

This has consequences for the quality of decisions made by large numbers of people, such as general elections, where the probability of any one vote changing the outcome is very small.

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Applications

Marketers can take advantage of rational ignorance by increasing the complexity of a decision
In politics, by increasing the number of issues that a person needs to consider in order to make a rational decision between candidates, they can level the playing field by encouraging single-issue voting, party-line voting, and other habits that tend to ignore a candidate's actual qualifications for the job
Political party identification
- Based on prior experience, a reasonably responsible voter will find politicians or a political party that will draw conclusions similar to their own conclusions when the voter had the time to do the analysis

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Criticism

Apathy
Scrutinized for its broadening effect on the decisions that individuals make in different matters
External benefits are not adequately taken into account

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Vincible Ignorance

In Catholic ethics, vincible ignorance is a moral or doctrinal matter that could have been removed by diligence reasonable to the circumstances. It contrasts with invincible ignorance, which cannot be removed at all.

Invincible ignorance prevents sinful action from being a sin, but vincible ignorance, at most, only mitigates it; it may even aggravate guilt. The guilt of an act performed or omitted in vincible ignorance is not to be measured by the intrinsic malice of the thing done or omitted so much as by the degree of negligence discernible in the act.

Ignorance stemming from making little or no effort is termed crass or supine; it removes little to no guilt. Deliberately fostered ignorance is affected or studied; it can increase guilt.

Ignorance may be:

Of law
- One is unaware of the existence of the law itself or at least that a particular case is comprised under its provisions
Of fact
- When not the relation of something to the law but the thing itself or some circumstance is unknown
Of penalty
- When a person is not cognizant that a sanction has been attached to a particular crime

Vincible ignorance can also refer to the intentional refusal to understand or consider a particular point of doctrine.

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Willful Ignorance

Willful ignorance is a term used in law to describe a situation in which an individual seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting himself in a position where he will be unaware of facts which would render him liable.

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