Is it reasonable to state that people choose to be ignorant?

“Is it reasonable to state that people choose to be ignorant?”

Yes.

No. They choose to remain uninformed.

What if we were to decide that people choose to be ignorant? Then what? What can be done about it? Does it make us feel superior, build our resentment and anger? Is this a simple ego-building exercise deigned to boost the image of the “self” and “others”?

I’d rather ask something like, “What results in the state of ignorance?” From here we have some place to go. If we are discussing politics, foreign policy, etc the answer will likely lead us to the mass media. From here, a quick analysis of the few large corporations that own most of what people consume would lead us to a propaganda model (not unlike Chomsky & Herman’s). And then, we’re not left with the idea that there are people choosing to be ignorant. They may, in fact, be choosing to be informed, yet the information that they are consuming is simply resulting in complete ignorance.

So, leaving the whole free will discussion out of it, it appears to me that ignorance (lack of knowledge) may not be a result of choice at all. I suspect that in most cases, people feel that they are informed enough to make decisions. When the yard stick that measures ignorance is provided by the very tool that injects the ignorance, there is very little need to dig further.

“Is it reasonable to state that people choose to be ignorant?”

Yes.

@kritiper “No. They choose to remain uninformed.”

Which is choosing to remain ignorant.

Is it that, or is it that people are no longer encouraged to think and be creative?

I lean towards government and big business having an interest in ignorant workers, and only a few elite being encouraged to think.

(yes – conspiracy theory. show me where i’m wrong)

@Darth_Algar Maybe I should have been more specific. Here’s an example: Choosing to be ignorant, as I interpreted it, is to not watch the news. Choosing to be uninformed is watching the news, but not taking heed of it.

@elbanditoroso I’m not sure about government interests being served by ignorant workers. Politicians on the other hand and particularly those pulling their strings clearly reap the “benefits” of ignorance.

“Is it reasonable to state that people choose to be ignorant?”

Yes.

I worked in a food factory for 20 years, @elbanditoroso.
When I started all you needed to get a job there was a good word from someone already on the payroll, and a 90 day trial period.
By the time I retired, they required new hires to be screened by the employment office, take 2–3 written tests and interview 2–3 times.
There were workers displaced when another factory in town moved to Mexico, and those workers couldn’t even get a chance without the written/interview tests, regardless of experience or work history. 7 years operating a machine in a factory without an absence took a back seat to being a good bullshitter.

I’d say instead that people tend to cling tenaciously to their understanding of the way things are, often to the point of dismissing out of hand any alternative view or contrary evidence. In general, we resist anything that disrupts our established world view.

From the outside, this can look like a willful disregard for the facts, but subjectively it feels like a choice of the known over the chaos of the unknown. The person would see themselves as a defender of order, not as choosing ignorance.

As Mark Twain said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so”.

YES

Yes.

It’s not only reasonable, it is true. Voluntary ignorance is something I detest in people and am not silent on the topic.

No. How could this be true? Knowledge is there, or it is not there. We can’t just decide to “un-know” something. Think of something you know – Paris is the capital of France, for example. Now, try to convince yourself that’s not true. How would this ever work?

I agree with @thorninmud on what may look like voluntary ignorance, and with @DoNotKnowMuch on the consequences we can draw from seeing this.

Modern flat Earth societies:”...the “Bible, alongside our senses, supported the idea that the earth was flat and immovable and this essential truth should not be set aside for a system based solely on human conjecture”.

Put your brain on Cruz control, @longgone.

@ibstubro I’m guessing your point is that if people are able to believe Earth is flat, that’s an example of voluntary ignorance? I don’t agree. We “know” things because our experiences have added up to certain beliefs. The idea that Earth is flat is clearly wrong, but if you had been exposed to it from a young age, it would undoubtedly seem perfectly reasonable. I don’t really understand the Cruz reference.