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A section of the library containing books dealing with the circulation of information, censorship, religion and the protection of natural habitats was emptied of its books, replaced by acoustic foam for anechoic chamber. Denial and cognitive dissonance can materialize as an offensive presence that pushes us to circumvent or postpone access to anxiety-provoking information. The vice tightens within the mobile shelves, the angular shapes superimposing the existential threat of climate disruption and the accusation that we blame ourselves for taking part in their causes.
“[…] to maneuver through our informationally laden environment, the ability to select certain bits of information
while deliberately ignoring others might be crucial to acquire. If so, the building blocks of this competence, and
how they could be taught to citizens of all ages, need to be studied. Reverse engineering may help us begin to
understand the methods used by those who design information: How do they manage to get people hooked? What
strategies are necessary to resist them and maintain the level of agency and autonomy that most people want and
need? The desire not to know is poorly understood and, in our view, not simply an “anomaly in human behavior.”
It is prevalent, and nuanced psychological theories are required to understand it. The phenomenon of deliberate
ignorance also raises important questions. Answering these questions promises a deeper understanding of how
people reckon with uncertainty and may, indeed, prefer it at times to certainty.”
Ralph Hertwig and Christoph Engel, Deliberate ignorance, choosing not to know
“Selective inattention edits from experience those elements that might be unsettling were one to notice them. This is a
broad-beamed operation, warding off everyday anxiety – the bill one just happened to misplace, the unpleasant duty
forgotten. Selective inattention is an all-purpose response to everyday agonies ; it is close to what Neisser described as the
simplest instance of a diversionary schema. Through this minidenial, says Sullivan, “one simply doesn’t happen to notice
almost an infinite series of more-or-less meaningful details of one’s living”. The utter simplicity of selective inattention – and
its ubiquity in everyday life – qualifies it as a generic defense, perhaps the most common.
Much of what we do is done automatically, out of awareness. Certain of these automatized activities cover up elements
of experience that might make us uncomfortable if we fully realized our motives or objectives.”
Daniel Goleman, Vital lies, simple truths