The 9 Types Of Ignorance And Their Characteristics
Although the word ignorance is usually conceived as a negative or pejorative term since no one would like to be considered ignorant, the truth is that we are all ignorant in something. Furthermore, as we will see later in this article, there are various types of ignorance.
We can find the following types of ignorance: excusing ignorance, presumptuous ignorance, inevitable ignorance, rational ignorance, guilty ignorance, conjectural ignorance, cherished ignorance, pluralistic ignorance and, finally, learned ignorance.
Ignorance, in its myriad forms, shapes our understanding of the world around us. As purveyors of knowledge, it is imperative to delve into the nuances of ignorance to comprehend its subtle yet profound impact on human cognition and societal dynamics. In this comprehensive discourse, we elucidate the nine types of ignorance and dissect their distinctive characteristics, shedding light on the intricacies that underpin each variant.
In this article We will see the types of ignorance and its most characteristic aspects
The word ignorance, (from the verb “ignore”, from the Latin ignorere, ‘not to know’; negative derivative of the root gnō- of (g)noscere, ‘to know’), is a concept widely used when referring to the lack of knowledge, knowledge or even experience being a term commonly used in different areas (e.g., pedagogical, philosophical, legal, etc.).
According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the word ignorance has the following meanings:
In addition, the RAE also includes the definition of different types of ignorance depending on the area to which it refers. These definitions would be the ones we are going to briefly comment on below.
On the one hand there is “invincible ignorance” This concept is used when talking about the ignorance that a person has about something, due to lack of reason or reason to distrust it.
On the other hand, “ignorance of the law” which is used to refer to ignorance of the law, although this does not excuse anyone because the presumption or legal fiction governs that, having been promulgated, everyone must know it.
Finally, we find “supine ignorance”, that which comes from negligence in inquiring or attending to what can and should be known; That is, it would be ignorance about what can and should be known, so it could be considered the inability taken to the extreme to understand a certain matter.
Ignorance could be considered a fundamental fact that serves as a starting point so that we are aware that we are not perfect and that no matter how much we strive to learn and try to acquire new knowledge throughout our lives, there will always be many things that will escape our knowledge.
Therefore, we should not be ashamed of not having any knowledge regarding various topics since that is something that happens to everyone and perhaps it is wiser to recognize our lack of knowledge and accept our doubts than to try to hide it. In these types of situations, it may be more useful for us to affirm our lack of knowledge and thus open a new door to new learning that another person who has greater knowledge on the matter could provide us.
Next we will see what are the different types of ignorance that we can find in human beings. This classification could serve to demonstrate that no one has absolute knowledge about everything, since we are all ignorant regarding various topics, nor is there any person who is completely ignorant because we have all been acquiring knowledge in certain areas or in relation to certain topics.
1. Excusing ignorance
The first of the types of ignorance that we are going to talk about would be excused ignorance, an ignorance that occurs involuntarily and with total ignorance, or even without capacity, since the person who has that type of ignorance with respect to a specific topic or issue is not aware of it
2. Presumptuous ignorance
Another of the most common types of ignorance is what is known as presumptuous ignorance, a concept that refers to those cases in which a person presumes knowledge about something he does not know ; In other words, it would be the attitude of denying the possibility of knowing something within those fields where its methodology is unacceptable epistemologically speaking.
3. Guilty ignorance
In this case we would be talking about one of the types of ignorance resulting from self-deception a way of avoiding certain responsibilities that could be inadmissible on a moral level in certain circumstances and is that, when referring to culpable ignorance, we would fundamentally be dealing with some moral issue of great relevance.
Rational ignorance would be another of the main types of ignorance and refers to the acceptance of ignorance, in those cases in which it is eminently rational Therefore, in these types of cases and in certain circumstances, this type of ignorance is covered with the veil of indifference.
An example of rational ignorance would be the following: “I consider myself ignorant about topics in various subjects such as physics or artificial intelligence, since what I studied was not related to these subjects.”
5. Learned ignorance
This type of ignorance refers to the fact that if a person managed to know their own capacity for ignorance, they would therefore be more learned, so that knowledge would consist of a certain comparison between that which is familiar or known and those that are unknown to that person
Therefore, we could say that this would be one of the types of ignorance that would refer rather to an intellectual disposition than to an accumulation or set of knowledge and that is why learned ignorance is observed as that disposition or ability to recognize the limitations on all rational knowledge.
6. Conjectural ignorance
When we talk about conjectural ignorance we are referring to that set of formulations, hypotheses or conjectures about reality that will subsequently be subjected to the test of their probable falsification which is that experimental procedure that could disprove our initial idea.
In that sense, it could be said that the solutions that we provide with respect to a particular problem or situation are actually simple tentative conjectures that could be challenged and even replaced by other alternative solutions, with the possibility that the other solutions were more suitable.
A very curious phenomenon that usually occurs is that as A person increases his knowledge with the passage of time and, above all, in relation to a field that is related to their interests or their profession, the greater their astonishment tends to be at what they ignore. Furthermore, this could cause that person to tend to take refuge in the field of learned ignorance, thus managing to recognize his own capacity and his limitations.
And specialization in a profession and/or in some fields or areas of knowledge, by requiring a lot of effort and a lot of time of dedication, can bring with it an increase or at least the maintenance of ignorance or lack of knowledge in other fields or areas.
8. Dear ignorance
Dear ignorance would be another of the most talked about types of ignorance, and that is why we have decided to include it in this classification. This type of ignorance is related to the fact that there are things that we do not know mainly because There are certain things that we actually prefer not to know or not being aware of something.
This is what usually happens with respect to topics that we find very sad, unpleasant or worrying; Having considered that it is of no use to worry about them because we are aware that we will not be able to solve them, and by knowing more details or receiving more information about them, we believe that we will only be more worried.
9. Pluralistic ignorance
Finally, among the different types of ignorance we want to include pluralistic ignorance, a process that has been widely studied in the field of social psychology because it usually involves a set or group of people (e.g., members of an association, a group of co-workers, a group of students, etc.).
Pluralistic ignorance usually occurs when within a set or group of people, each one of them thinks that the others have more information than them about a situation or issue and, therefore, they also have it in the face of a doubtful or uncertain event. For this reason, each of these people dedicates themselves to observing the behavior of the rest in order to make an analysis and interpretation that is as correct as possible without realizing that it is possible that the others are not certain either. whether or not they are doing the right thing.
That is why all the members of the group could be getting carried away by what the others are doing. This process can also often lead to inaction when solving certain problems and could also cause a decrease in the productivity of a group of people working in a group.
