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The zoo of models of deliberate ignorance
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Trimmer, Pete C., McElreath, Richard, Auster, Sarah, Brown, Gordon D. A., Dana, Jason, Gigerenzer, Gerd, Golman, Russell, Hilbe, Christian, Kandler, Anne, Kareev, Yaakov, Schooler, Lael J. and Szech, Nora (2021) The zoo of models of deliberate ignorance. In: Deliberate Ignorance : Choosing Not to Know. MIT Press, pp. 155-184. ISBN 9780262363273
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13757.003.0015
Abstract
This chapter looks at deliberate ignorance from a modeling perspective. Standard economic models cannot produce deliberate ignorance in a meaningful way; if there were no cost for acquisition and processing, data could be looked at privately and processed perfectly. Here the focus is on cases where the standard assumptions are violated in some way. Cases are considered from an individual’s perspective, without game-theoretic (strategic) aspects. Different classes of “not wanting to know” something are identified: aside from the boring case of the cost of information acquisition being too high, an individual may prefer to not know some information (e.g., when knowledge would reduce the enjoyment of other experiences) or may want to not use some information (e.g., relating to a lack of self-control). In addition, strategic cases of deliberate ignorance are reviewed, where obtaining information would also signal to others that information acquisition has occurred, and thus it may be better to remain ignorant. Finally, the possibility of deliberate ignorance emerging in population-level models is discussed, where there seems to be a relative dearth of models of the phenomenon at present. Throughout, the authors make use of examples to summarize different classes of models, ideas for how deliberate ignorance can make sense, and gaps in the literature for future modeling.
| Item Type: | Book Item | ||||||
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Ignorance (Theory of knowledge) -- Economic 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. 155-184 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.7551/mitpress/13757.003.0015 | ||||||
| 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. 155-184). | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
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| Open Access Version: |
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