Study: "The less you know, the more you trust...."

The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

And the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware, according to a paper published online in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[Edit for brevity -- DJW001]

Through a series of five studies conducted in 2010 and 2011 with 511 adults in the United States and Canada, the researchers described "a chain reaction from ignorance about a subject to dependence on and trust in the government to deal with the issue."
In one study, participants who felt most affected by the economic recession avoided information challenging the government's ability to manage the economy. However, they did not avoid positive information, the study said. This study comprised 197 Americans with a mean age of 35 (111 women and 89 men), who had received complex information about the economy and had answered a question about how the economy is affecting them directly....

Full article here.

I'm sure that this research confirms many of the opinions held by most members of ATS. The more complex the world becomes, the more helpless one feels. The more helpless one feels, the more inclined one is to depend on others. It is easiest to leave the hard work to a professional class, or government, and just ignore what is going on all around. This is why denying ignorance is important; the people one trusts are not necessarily any more capable of understanding the situation.

Unfortunately, the cycle does not work the other way around. Just because you don't trust the professional classes or the government doesn't necessarily mean you are better informed!

This sort of reminds me of a quote "There is no person I wish to know and understand fully, other than myself" I think that was Eleanor Roosevelt... could be wrong.


I think trust is just proving or believing someone to be Honest, and being able to count on them being Honest again.

reply to post by DJW001




It reminds me of George Carlin... and what he says about education and critical thinking.

Ignorance is bliss. If ignorance makes it easy to trust and trust is comforting than I guess you get your bliss.

The only person/thing/system I trust is my dog. Everything/one else is suspect. Even my cat with his shifty eyes.

reply to post by blupblup

It reminds me of George Carlin... and what he says about education and critical thinking.

Amen, though I hasten to add that the clips contain strong language that some might find offensive. But then, it is George "Six Words" Carlin. RIP.