The Deep Structure of Deliberate Ignorance: Mapping the Terrain

Authors

Jens Frankenreiter, Washington University in St. Louis School of LawFollow
Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore CollegeFollow
Peter J. Richerson, UC Davis Department of Enviormental Science & PolicyFollow
Benjamin E. Berkman, National Institute of Health Department of BioethicsFollow
David Hagmann, Asst. Professor, Department of Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Derek M. Isaacowitz, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences​ at Washington University in St. LouisFollow
Thorsten Pachur, Max Planck Institute for Human Development: Center for Adaptive RationalityFollow
Lael J. Schooler, Syracuse University
Peter Wehling, Lab for Studies of Science and Technology

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

Deliberate Ignorance: Choosing Not to Know

Abstract

This chapter explores the “deep structure” of deliberate ignorance, defined as an individual’s or collective’s intentional choice to create a short- or long-term barrier to information for the individual or collective who made the choice. This definition is used to identify clear cases while acknowledging that the key terms of the definition (deliberate and ignorance) admit of ambiguity. It is argued that the frequency, forms, and functions of deliberate ignorance may vary across individuals as well as domains of information. Potential causal variables are suggested (e.g., the utility of the information, the nature of the information environment, the level of relevant parties who initiate and are affected by deliberate ignorance, and the legal, ethical, and social context within which deliberate ignorance occurs) and possible consequences are explored for the actors who engage in deliberate ignorance. Finally, the potential time course of deliberate ignorance is discussed within an episode of deliberate ignorance itself, across life-span development as well as cultural and biological evolutionary time.

Keywords

Deliberate Ignorance, Psychology, Sociology

Publication Citation

Barry Schwartz, Peter J. Richerson, Benjamin E. Berkman, Jens Frankenreiter, David Hagmann, Derek M. Isaacowitz, Thorsten Pachur, Lael J. Schooler & Peter Wehling, The Deep Structure of Deliberate Ignorance: Mapping the Terrain, in Deliberate Ignorance: Choosing Not to Know 65-88 (Ralph Hertwig & Christoph Engel eds., 2021).

Comments

ISBN: 9780262045599

Repository Citation

Frankenreiter, Jens; Schwartz, Barry; Richerson, Peter J.; Berkman, Benjamin E.; Hagmann, David; Isaacowitz, Derek M.; Pachur, Thorsten; Schooler, Lael J.; and Wehling, Peter, "The Deep Structure of Deliberate Ignorance: Mapping the Terrain" (2021). Scholarship@WashULaw. 256.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholarship/256