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Models of deliberate ignorance in individual choice
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Brown, Gordon D. A. and Walasek, Lukasz (2021) Models of deliberate ignorance in individual choice. In: Deliberate ignorance : choosing not to know. MIT Press, pp. 121-138. ISBN 9780262363273
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13757.003.0013
Abstract
This chapter reviews models of deliberate ignorance and argues that models developed in both psychology and economics may be useful in understanding different aspects of deliberate ignorance. Such models must specify what quantity is increased at the expense of the potential benefits of the ignored information. A model classification is developed based on the quantity that different models assumed to be so increased. Three broad classes of relevant models are identified: (a) models that assume that utility associated with the content of beliefs may be increased by deliberate ignorance, (b) models that assume that the consistency of beliefs with each other or with a sense of identity may be increased by deliberate ignorance, and (c) models that assume that the quality of decision making may be increased by deliberate ignorance. Gaps in the literature are identified. In particular, it is suggested that insufficient attention has been given to the distinction between the effects on an agent’s utility of acquiring information (a one-off change) and possession of information (being in a steady-state of changed beliefs). Ultimately, models of deliberate ignorance will need to address the relationship between people’s (often partial and contradictory) knowledge about the world and their reasoning about that world.
Item Type: | Book Item | ||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology | ||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Ignorance (Theory of knowledge) -- Psychological aspects -- Mathematical models, Ignorance (Theory of knowledge) -- Economic aspects -- Mathematical models, Decision making -- Psychological aspects -- Mathematical models, Decision making -- Economic aspects -- Mathematical models | ||||||
Publisher: | MIT Press | ||||||
ISBN: | 9780262363273 | ||||||
Book Title: | Deliberate ignorance : choosing not to know | ||||||
Official Date: | 2021 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Page Range: | pp. 121-138 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.7551/mitpress/13757.003.0013 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This chapter is from Hertwig, Ralph and Christoph Engel eds., Deliberate Ignorance: Choosing Not to Know, ©2021 MIT and the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, (pp. 121-138). | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Copyright Holders: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 1 June 2022 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 1 June 2022 | ||||||
Related URLs: | |||||||
Open Access Version: |
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