Agnotology

Common card · No. 333543

Within the sociology of knowledge, agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of deliberate, culturally cultivated ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (i.e. disinformation). More generally, the term includes the condition where more knowledge of a subject creates greater uncertainty. Stanford University professor Robert N. Proctor cites the Tobacco industry playbook to manufacture doubt about the adverse health effects of tobacco use as a prime example. David Dunning of Cornell University warns that powerful interests exploit the internet to "propagate ignorance". Active agents of culturally cultivated ignorance include mass media, corporations, and government agencies, operating through secrecy and suppression of information, document destruction, and selective memory. Passive causes include structural information bubbles, such as those produced by racial...

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