The Social Construction of Ignorance

Abstract

Ignorance has been a marginal and neglected topic in the social sciences, as is the case in cognate disciplines. Indeed, most of what mainstream social science says about ignorance is merely implicit in its outpourings about knowledge. As for direct statements about ignorance or even uncertainty themselves, at best, one could say there is a fragmentary literature that is loosely held together by common themes. This state of affairs might seem to justify ignoring altogether whatever contributions sociologists, social psychologists, and anthropologists may have made in this area. However, this literature has important redeeming features in that it discusses several aspects of ignorance that are not effectively covered in the perspectives we have reviewed so far. Moreover, at least some social scientists bring to their commentary philosophical perspectives that differ in crucial ways from those that inform either applied mathematicians or cognitive psychologists.

“The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”Oliver Goldsmith

“You can’t fool me—I’m too ignorant.”Joe Penner