In our worldIgnorance, simply put, is the lack of knowledge or information. Everyone is ignorant, to some degree, most of us to a huge degree. There are so many things to know in the world, so many subjects, so many people, so many insignificant details. There’s no escaping that you are blind to a lot of things, however, what does separate people is how they approach ignorance. Science, and scientists for example, are well aware of the limit to their knowledge. When asked something that they cannot answer, they will admit it upfront, and then say: “Let’s find out”. Those that aren’t as transparent about their shortcomings are more dangerous. MitigationAs we lessen our ignorance, we discover just how ignorant we are. “We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.”-John Archibald Wheeler. This is the typical scenario in science and discovering truths about the world. Ignorance is a many-headed hydra, for every question you answer, two more take its place. The Dangers of IgnoranceIn this age of information, where people have access to more knowledge than ever before at their fingertips, ignorance, ironically, is growing. That’s not to say that people know less than before, but there are more instances of confident acceptance of false “facts”. The rise of ‘fake news’ in recent times has taken ignorance a step further, wilful ignorance. This sort of ignorance has come about not through lack of means to discover information, but refusal. Wilful ignorance means that despite whatever contrary evidence may be presented to you, you refuse to acknowledge it, and stay comfortable in your current beliefs. This is how we end up with climate-denying politicians, and anti-vaxxers. When a satisfying answer to any question you can think of is only a Google search away, people become emboldened in what they think they know, their ignorance. While we do live in the age of information, we also live in the age of misinformation. The very same platform that allows knowledge to be shared globally, to anyone who can access the internet, also provides a platform for those who want to share their ignorance with anyone who will listen. BlissUp until now, ignorance has only been presented as a negative. Surely, more knowledge is better, right? Well, that’s not quite true. Ignorance can also be a blessing for some people. Would you enjoy knowing the exact date of your death? Would you rather know about the spider living under your bed, even if it never rears its head? There are some things in life that we are better off not knowing (but climate science isn’t one of them!). What’s this got to do with complexity? Well, similarly to uncertainty, ignorance will always be present in complex systems. Knowing that you don’t know everything is the key, and then making allowances for it. ‘Only the foolish think they know everything’.
What is it? Who knows.
Topic: Ignorance
by Mischa, 2020 Cohort
In our worldIgnorance, simply put, is the lack of knowledge or information. Everyone is ignorant, to some degree, most of us to a huge degree. There are so many things to know in the world, so many subjects, so many people, so many insignificant details. There’s no escaping that you are blind to a lot of things, however, what does separate people is how they approach ignorance. Science, and scientists for example, are well aware of the limit to their knowledge. When asked something that they cannot answer, they will admit it upfront, and then say: “Let’s find out”. Those that aren’t as transparent about their shortcomings are more dangerous. MitigationAs we lessen our ignorance, we discover just how ignorant we are. “We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.”-John Archibald Wheeler. This is the typical scenario in science and discovering truths about the world. Ignorance is a many-headed hydra, for every question you answer, two more take its place. The Dangers of IgnoranceIn this age of information, where people have access to more knowledge than ever before at their fingertips, ignorance, ironically, is growing. That’s not to say that people know less than before, but there are more instances of confident acceptance of false “facts”. The rise of ‘fake news’ in recent times has taken ignorance a step further, wilful ignorance. This sort of ignorance has come about not through lack of means to discover information, but refusal. Wilful ignorance means that despite whatever contrary evidence may be presented to you, you refuse to acknowledge it, and stay comfortable in your current beliefs. This is how we end up with climate-denying politicians, and anti-vaxxers. When a satisfying answer to any question you can think of is only a Google search away, people become emboldened in what they think they know, their ignorance. While we do live in the age of information, we also live in the age of misinformation. The very same platform that allows knowledge to be shared globally, to anyone who can access the internet, also provides a platform for those who want to share their ignorance with anyone who will listen. BlissUp until now, ignorance has only been presented as a negative. Surely, more knowledge is better, right? Well, that’s not quite true. Ignorance can also be a blessing for some people. Would you enjoy knowing the exact date of your death? Would you rather know about the spider living under your bed, even if it never rears its head? There are some things in life that we are better off not knowing (but climate science isn’t one of them!). What’s this got to do with complexity? Well, similarly to uncertainty, ignorance will always be present in complex systems. Knowing that you don’t know everything is the key, and then making allowances for it. ‘Only the foolish think they know everything’.
Explore this topic further#
- Mike Smithson, Ignorance Studies PDF{.link-ext target=”_blank”}
- Wikipedia page{.link-ext target=”_blank”}
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