Is it bad to be willfully ignorant?
Asked by: Jaclyn McGlynn | Last update: July 8, 2025Score: 5/5 (44 votes)
The problem with willful ignorance – one's own, and that imposed on children and family – is that it solves nothing and perpetuates itself. By nature, it's stagnant and cornered. All blame lies outside the self and relief is beyond one's control.
Is willful ignorance a bad thing?
We discovered that willful ignorance is common and harmful, with 40 percent of people choosing ``not to know'' the consequences of their actions to free themselves of guilt while maximizing their own gains.
What is a willfully ignorant person?
In law, willful ignorance is when a person seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally keeping themselves unaware of facts that would render them liable or implicated.
What are the consequences of that willful ignorance?
That willful ignorance was correlated with less altruism: People were 15.6 percentage points more likely to be generous to someone else when they were told the consequences of their choice compared with when they were allowed to remain ignorant.
What is willingly ignorant?
Willful ignorance (as a noun in our Federal Acquisition parlance and the law) is a decision made in bad faith to avoid becoming informed about something and making undesirable decisions that such information might prompt.
George Carlin "Americans will remain willfully ignorant"
What does the Bible say about willful ignorance?
Romans 5:14
The offense committed in ignorance or in willful ignorance is just as abominable as one done with knowledge.
Where in the Bible does it say they are willingly ignorant?
2 Peter 3:5 In-Context
5 For of this they are willfully ignorant: that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, 6 whereby the world as it then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
Is being ignorant a bad thing?
We usually think of ignorance as a bad thing. But it can be preferable not to know some things. There are also many things we may never want to know, or that we may want others never to know. Imposing ignorance on ourselves and each other can be legitimate.
What are examples of willful ignorance?
The paradigmatic example is that of a person at an airport who is asked by a stranger to take a suitcase filled with drugs. If the person does not know the contents of the suitcase but agrees to take it without checking the contents, that person is said to be willfully ignorant but criminally liable.
What is a word for willfully ignorant?
Willfully ignorant or willfully blind are the usual terms, though not single words. Related concepts are: obdurate, dogmatic, incurious, close-minded, narrow-minded, oblivious, blinkered, prejudiced, stubborn, obstinate. It's also a legal term: Willful blindness.
How to deal with someone who is willfully ignorant?
Offer references.
If you are dealing with people who display ignorance by refusing to believe the facts or stating false information, offer references to the right information rather than just telling them that they are wrong.
What is the willfully ignorant fallacy?
This fallacy occurs when you argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it. This fallacy wrongly shifts the burden of proof away from the one making the claim.
What is willful ignorance symptoms?
Willful ignorance occurs when individuals realize at some level of consciousness that their beliefs are probably false, or when they refuse to attend to information that would establish their falsity.
Can ignorance be evil?
So maybe the thing to say is this: ignorance is one source of evil, but by no means the only one. It's plausible that if people are better informed, then various sorts of bad consequences will be less likely, though truly evil people can put knowledge to evil ends.
What is an example of willed ignorance?
Example #1:
I don't want anything coming in the way of me and my beliefs; therefore, I will only socialize with people who share my beliefs. Explanation: This is a common form of the fallacy -- excluding oneself from society as a whole to smaller subgroups where the same general opinions are shared.
Why is willful ignorance bad?
Willful ignorance, the intentional avoidance of information about the negative consequences of one's actions, has detrimental significant implications: It reduces altruistic behavior.
Can you be willfully ignorant?
Willful ignorance occurs when someone intentionally avoids information about the negative consequences of their actions.
How to fight willful ignorance?
Seek new experiences, read widely, and ask questions to deepen your understanding of the world. Be open to change: Be willing to change your mind when presented with new information or evidence. This can be difficult, but it is an important part of overcoming willful ignorance and growing as a person.
Is it a sin to be ignorant?
Therefore, ignorance is not a sin. Objection 2: Sin is more directly opposed to grace than it is to knowledge. But the privation of grace is not a sin; instead, it is a sort of punishment that follows upon sin. Therefore, ignorance, which is a privation of knowledge, is not a sin.
What kind of person is ignorant?
Ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, uneducated mean lacking in knowledge or in training. Ignorant may mean knowing little or nothing, or it may mean uninformed about a particular subject: An ignorant person can be dangerous.
Can ignorance be a good thing?
Socrates' famous statement, “I know only one thing - that I know nothing” introduces ignorance as a form of wisdom; it's wisdom rooted in the acknowledgment of what one does not know. Likewise, some mediaeval thinkers adopted positive views of ignorance, in specific, with respect to certain domains of knowledge.
What does God say about ignorant people?
Ignorant people get what their foolishness deserves, but the clever are rewarded with knowledge. Evil people will have to bow down to the righteous and humbly beg their favor. No one likes the poor, not even their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.
What does it mean my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge?
The reference is pertaining to rejecting the knowledge of God's Word. The principle applies to life in general but lack of knowledge of God's Word is the most costly. As long as a person continues to reject the Word they will suffer from lack of knowledge which will potentially lead to destruction.
How did Jesus deal with ignorant people?
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (v. 34). Jesus prays for the people's forgiveness because they're an ignorant bunch. That's Luke's thesis statement for these few verses—You are an ignorant people.