But they seem like real knowledge. Some of these misconceptions literally stretch back to early childhood. We ascribe intent and choice to events that are utterly accidental in nature. The scariest aspect is that the less people actually know, the more confident they tend to be in their attitudes. They know some rule or principle that, in actuality, is completely wrong.
We all hold values that we use as a basis to reason about the world, and we'll actually refuse to accept facts if they contradict what we think is right, which helps explain a lot about politics. I'd argue the same principles apply to business. It's common to find entrepreneurs who have read one thing or heard another and decided that they possess real knowledge about how to run a company, even if they cannot produce results.
And, again, that means pretty much everyone in business at one time or another. The researchers also documented personal characteristics of the participants, some of which proved to be significant variables. Meanwhile those with high neuroticism scores showed the opposite tendency. Among those who were more open to such information, there was often at least one domain in which they opted to remain uninformed.
In a second study, participants rated the same series of scenarios twice, four weeks apart. Their responses remained stable over time. Not surprisingly, Ho and her team found, the motivation to avoid information impacts our behavior. In one of their experiments, participants completed the initial survey on knowledge avoidance. Two weeks later, they had the option to visit a Web site with potentially valuable information that they might find painful to learn.
For instance, one site compared the average salaries of men and women across occupations. This general body of research suggests that deliberate ignorance is a widespread preference not only in relation to painful news and events, such as death and divorce, but also pleasurable ones, such as birth. When Gigerenzer and Garcia-Retamero asked their 2,plus participants if they wanted to learn about positive life events, most preferred ignorance over knowledge.
More than 60 percent indicated not wanting to know about their next Christmas present. This result might have something to do with the possibility of disappointment, but the bigger issue, this research shows, is that people enjoy the suspense. We run genetic tests on our unborn children to prepare for the worst. We monitor our health on our wrists and with calorie counters. Yet we are not suckers for certainty, the authors conclude. He is based in Los Angeles. Stay in touch on Facebook and Twitter.
Skip to content Head in the sand. Photo: Shutterstock. Derek Beres. In this article. The Present. Too few babies — not overpopulation — is likely to be a major problem this century. The Future. New machine-learning algorithms from Columbia University detect cognitive impairment in older drivers. Up Next. We wanted to create a way to measure an individual's tendency to pursue or shy away from information. In one scenario, for example, participants had the option to learn as part of a routine medical exam the extent to which their body had suffered lasting damage from stress: a third of respondents preferred not to learn this information.
And if they had gifted their favorite book to a close friend, 1 in 4 participants would rather not learn whether their friend had read and enjoyed the book. The study showed that the desire to avoid information is widespread, and that most people had at least some domains, be it their health, finances or perception by others, in which they preferred to remain uninformed. The study also showed that the desire for information was consistent over time; those who expressed a preference for avoiding information at one point in time expressed similar preferences when asked again weeks later.
Furthermore, how people responded to the hypothetical scenarios predicted real consequential decisions they were presented with to receive or avoid obtaining information. Although information may feel painful in the moment, such knowledge often leads to better decisions in the future. The researchers found that people who are more impatient are also more likely to avoid learning information, preferring to avoid the prospect of immediate pain rather than make better long-term decisions.
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