If someone is being what you consider ignorant to you, what is your reaction?
What would you do to address this?
Depends on whether or not it's willful ignorance.
@IronicMaiden Could you present me with a definiton of willful ignorance?
It comes off as an oxymoron to me otherwise. As ignorance means "without knowledge."
What @IronicMaiden said. But if it is not willful, then education is always the answer. Whether they choose the red pill or the blue pill is up to them.
I think it Depends on the subject honestly. I’m pretty blunt sometimes and believe being Clear and honest with feedback/communication is kindness but sometimes It isnt worth the effort and time to get into things if the person isn’t willing or wanting to hear it.
@Huggycatbear An example. Someone says something about a particular group of people. A member of that group offers a correction. Original person ignores the correction or says that the correction is wrong, and otherwise refuses to listen to correct information.
In short, willful ignorance is refusing to learn.
Ignorance is always on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum is willful ignorance and the other end is blissful ignorance with all shades in between. People have their reasons and as @Brandi stated—it depends on the topic. There are many things I wish to be blissfully ignorant of that I really have no interest in being enlightened on.
Thank you so far all. I don't know if this is ironic but I was ignorant about willful ignorance.
Concerning willful ignorance, what if the information is biased and there is opposing information?
I would say in your circumstance @IronicMaiden, I can understand if you are the member of a group, you could have a deeper understanding.
At the same time we aren't hive-minded. So what if someone in that group has opposing information.
I hope this comes with a tone of gaining perspective and not playing devil's advocate which is not my intention.
What if someone loves blueberries and another loves raspberries and I don't like either because they are both berries to me and I think berries are poisonous, Am I being willfully ignorant to either?
I don’t respond or react. Try to be as passive and neutral about it.
Willful ignorance is not the same thing as having a different opinion.
A Differing Opinion:
Willful Ignorance:
Common tells:
@Huggycatbear That's a false equivalence. Not liking berries isn't anywhere near the same scale as spreading misinformation about a group and refusing to listen to corrections.
Though if you refuse to believe all of the evidence that berries are not poisonous, then that is willful ignorance. Unless you're allergic to them, in which case it's reasonable to say they're like poison to you, but not poisonous in general. And never mind that raspberries aren't berries, since that's a pedantic distinction not relevant in most cases.
@cuddlefaery Appreciate the breakdown!
One issue. How is an unconscious choice also willful? You're saying it's a defense mechanism that triggers, am I right?
If someone is not aware than it's simply back to good ole ignorance, right?
I’ve mostly gotten over my desire to correct other people unless it’s directly adversely affecting me or if it’s someone I deeply care about.
If strangers I don’t know want to be wrong or act like a fool, I won’t be bothered to try to “fix” that for them. I have no problem nodding along knowing full well someone is being foolish. Not my circus, not my monkeys. 🐒
@IronicMaiden What about if two members of a group have opposing information.
Re: biased information, cherry picking sources, contradicting information -
This is where source quality and critical thinking become essential. Not all sources are created equal, and they shouldn't be weighted the same when forming an opinion.
There's a reason statistics and meta-analyses get cited so often when countering ignorance — when a large, diverse group of people converge on the same conclusion through rigorous methods, that consensus carries weight. That doesn't mean individual experiences are worthless or that small data sets are automatically wrong. It means the burden of proof is higher, or that the findings may not be universally applicable.
Dismissing broad consensus in favor of a single outlier source isn't "seeing it differently" — it's a scaling problem. It's choosing one voice over a room full of people who, independently, reached the same conclusion.
@Huggycatbear have you ever been around a raspberry or a blueberry? Why do you think berries are poisonous? All berries ? Or just red and blue berries? Do you have proof or is it just your feeling? Maybe try them out and find that both are good… in their own way … and all this time you are afraid to give those berries a chance for no reason other than your own fear of them…they may not be as bad as you think 😊 …
@Huggycatbear In my experience, it's usually different perspectives on what's involved in being a member of that group, not opposing information. But they both have experience to draw on, whereas an outsider doesn't.
@Huggycatbear the unconscious choice based off of biases becomes willful when they are presented with contradictory information and they refuse to engage with it.
Once the person has been exposed to contradictory information, they have multiple options available:
If they ignore the information entirely, or dismiss it without logical follow through, then it is considered willful ignorance.
People tend to have difficulty admitting "I don't know", or with saying "I didn't know about this, I'll have to look into it more".
why is a pineapple called a pineapple?
it's called willful ignorance. 🤷♀️
the difference between what @cuddlefaery is describing and 'plain old ignorance' is that the person has been presented with the facts and is not taking them in, whether conscious or unconscious, the material is now directly available, not even an internet search is required, and they dismiss it, attack or dismiss the person providing it, change the subject, conflate the topic, move the goal posts.
sometimes the thread is the example.
@mauvefox 👍👍👍👍
@SweetCuddler33 I have shopped both raspberries and blueberries in person, and I love aspects both. As long as I'm not forced to just have one or the other. as I love fruit bowls myself. It's a more balanced nutrition for me. But I do not like what they advertise on TV or the internet.
I am almost 50 years young or old, so my life is based on experiences in the wild where I prefer to come across berries of every color. They are much sweeter in person than what is advertised. Some berries out of each bunch have been rotten unfortunately.
I do not have much fear in trying new things. I am an adventurer at heart, storyteller by trade, and an extrovert. Once again the fruit bowl is the best. Living in Vegas allows me such pleasures.
@cuddlefaery I've found that "I don't know" is a very powerful answer when you use it to mean "I need more information."
Lmao this whole thread has become about fruit. I find that funny in such an innocent delightful way.
Unfortunately, points of view and information tend not to be the sky is blue or a pineapple is pineapple.
We all have perspectives that can be skewed in so many ways. So many lens that we use. It can be based on our upbringing, beliefs, what group we are a part of.
I have two friends of the same group for example. They do not agree with how the group should be viewed, approached, or regarded. Does this make sense?
My mother is staying with a woman who only interacts with people of her race. My mother is the same race. She is frustrated because there is a willful ignorance by her roommate to understand other points of view, outside of their race.
To answer the OP, it depends on what the subject matter is. Sometimes I'll respond with "well bless your heart!" and move on. Sometimes I'll engage in a bit of discussion, like asking "why do you say that's so?" type stuff. Sometimes I'll even offer a different opinion or information for the person to chew on.
In younger years, my reflexive response was to correct such people with WHY they were wrong. I try very hard nowadays to reserve that for safety situations ("you're gonna cut your hand off doing it that way" type stuff). I still slip too often on this, but I'm conscious of it and make the effort now.
@Huggycatbear no group of individuals is ever going to be completely monolithic and homogeneous. So do you choose to side with just one or two dissenting sources from within that group, or do you side with the consensus of the larger group?
Context matters here, too. If you know that particular individuals have one opinion, it makes sense to cater your responses to their preferences and beliefs. However, if you're engaging with the group at large, or in the public, it makes more sense to base your responses off of the majority opinion.
Example: much of the LGBTQ+ community has moved towards reclaiming former slurs used against them. However, there's definitely a significant portion of us who still are uncomfortable or offended by the use of those slurs. If I know the person I'm talking to hates the term "queer", I'm going to avoid using it around them or when referring to them out of respect. But if I'm talking about myself or the community at large? We're here and we're queer 😂
In response to the OP -
Personally, if it's a topic I'm knowledgeable and passionate about, I'm going to speak up and provide data and resources where able. Especially if it's a topic that directly impacts me and the people I love. And while I'll always defer to the voices of the experts, that doesn't mean I'm going to stay silent. There is a lot of need for true allies to speak up when able and to amplify the voices of those experts. We should not be burdening those most negatively impacted by the ignorance by leaving the labor of education to them alone. This is especially true when the topic at hand involves minorities who are disenfranchised by our social systems.
“Well bless all of our hearts” 🥰 …
@cuddlefaery Whew, I am really thankful of your discussions in not making me feel judged. I respect all groups of people. I have both religious friends and friends in the LGBTQ+ community.
I am eclectic and I see the internet/government pits these groups against each other in a binary way of thinking. When I meet people in person, they aren't binary in thought. They are multi-dimensional and multi-cultural.
I have friends who are Catholic. I have friends who are in the Church of Satan. We have both in the same Writing Group I'm a part of. Some of them are because they believe in the separation of church and state and they are protesting. Whatever the reason that people are a part of, I want to love them, but will judge them on their behavior.
To me, behavior--not of a statistic, or general consensus--but individual behavior is the only merit worth judging someone on.
Behavior is everything.
For example of this forum: If someone is rude, reductive, and assumptive without being patient to understand someone, including that things can go up and down in discussions, I will address it. That is willful ignorance to me. And thank you all for teaching me this term.
Let's try to skew away from groupings of people since it can tread on politics.
If any of you would be interested in sharing personal interactions, I would love to hear it.
@Jubal This is where I'm currently at. I want to be the healing that people need. That's my goal. So I stopped trying to correct people. Stopped trying to tell people what to do. And instead I listen and try to understand first, so that I can give them advice from their point-of-view, not mine.
@Huggycatbear and skew away from groupings of fruit too… if we are being honest here @Huggycatbear I like all fruit, no matter how sweet or sour 😃 as long as they are not poisonous 😳
Again, sometimes the thread is the example. 🤷♀️